Fungal isolation in a veterinary hospital environment and evaluation of environmental disinfection

The presence of fungi in veterinary hospital environments is a constant concern, due to the ability of these organisms to cause infections in animals that frequent them and in humans who work there. This study aimed to investigate the presence and diversity of fungi in a veterinary hospital environment, especially on objects originating from the Pre-anesthesia Medication Room (PMR) and the Surgical Center (SC) of a university veterinary clinic. Samples were collected from objects belonging to these environments and used for the isolation and purification of fungi, before and immediately after the hygiene and disinfection procedure of the environment. A total of 115 colonies were isolated, 88 (76.5%) in the PMR and 27 (23.5%) in the SC. Of these, 74 (64.3%) were isolated before cleaning (53.0-71.6% in PMR and 21.0-28.4% in SC) and 41 (35.7%) after cleaning (35.0-85.4% in PMR and 6-14.6% in SC). Eleven genera were identified, the most prevalent being Trichophyton spp. (53.9%), Microsporum spp. (18.3%) and Cladosporium spp. (11.3%). The diversity, uniformity, and richness of fungal species were higher in PMR after cleaning (1-D = 0.69; H' = 1.433; DMg = 1.406) and in SC before cleaning (1-D = 0.7892; H' = 1.76; DMg = 1.642). The Wilcoxon test did not show any statistically significant difference before and after cleaning, thus demonstrating that cleaning is not being efficient in both environments. Cleaning was shown to be inefficient in both environments. It is essential to establish standards for diluting antiseptics, perform internal quality controls through frequent microbiological tests, and conduct periodic training, thus ensuring greater patient safety.