Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii isolated from birds droppings collected at petshops in Rio de Janeiro, RJ

ABSTRACT. Pereira J.R., Campos F.L., Abreu D.P.B. & Baroni F.A. [Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii isolated from birds droppings collected at petshops in Rio de Janeiro, RJ.] Cryptococcus neoformans e C. gattii isolados de excretas de aves comercializadas em lojas de animais do município do Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinária, 36(1):90-94, 2014. Departamento de Microbiologia e Imunologia Veterinária, Instituto de Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Campus Seropédica, BR 465 Km 7, Seropédica, RJ 23890-971, Brasil. E-mail: baroni@ufrrj.br The aim of this work was to verify the isolation of Cryptococcus neoformans from bird droppings at some pet-shops in the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, RJ. A total of 1.268 samples were processed from different species of birds from 25 commercial establishments distributed on 16 neighborhoods. The identification was made by macromorphology and micromorphology evaluations, auxanographic method and complementary proofs. The biochemical serogrouping was carried out in C.G.B. culture medium. From the total samples, 85 (6.70%) were considered positive. According to serogrouping, from the total of 56 samples, 54 were classified as serogrouping AD (Cryptococcus neoformans) and two samples to serogrouping BC (Cryptococcus gattii). The presence of these etiological agents in this kind of commercial establishment may be a great concern to sanitary surveillance policy, considering the possibility of humans and animals to be infected