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Localised infection caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is described in two Kelpies, a Whippet and a Koolie domiciled on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. The diagnosis was confirmed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the M. ulcerans-specific insertion sequence (IS 2404) in DNA extracted from swabs of ulcerated lesions in all cases. Where available, molecular typing confirmed that three of the dogs were infected with a strain of M. ulcerans that was indistinguishable from a disease-causing strain in people and other animals in Victoria. One dog was still undergoing treatment at the time of writing, but the remaining three dogs were successfully treated with a combination of surgical debridement and medical therapy in one case, and medical therapy alone in the other two. Investigation of the home environs of three of the dogs using real-time PCR revealed low amounts of M. ulcerans DNA in various environmental samples. Mycobacterium ulcerans infection should be included in the differential diagnoses of any ulcerated skin lesions in dogs that live in or visit endemic areas of Victoria and Queensland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case report A 5-year-old Domestic Shorthair-cross was presented with a raised, alopecic skin nodule affecting the external surface of the right upper lip with an adjacent second smaller satellite lesion. Fine needle aspiration cytology revealed numerous intracellular and extracellular negatively stained bacilli. Histopathology confirmed granulomatous inflammation with multinucleate giant cell formation and abundant intracellular acid-fast bacilli, consistent with a mycobacterial aetiology. PCR testing of the fresh tissue from the satellite lesion and subsequent sequence analysis identified Mycobacterium sp. strain Tarwin. The skin lesion was surgically excised and clarithromycin 62.5 mg twice daily was administered to the cat for 25 days. Conclusion There was no recurrence of the lesion at the time of writing, 16 months after the surgery. This is the second autochthonous case of feline leprosy caused by M. sp. strain Tarwin originating in New South Wales, Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]