Isolation of Dermatophilus sp from skin lesions in farmed saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus)

[Extract] The skin is the most valuable product of crocodile farming and any disease affecting it diminishes the quality of the leather and hence its market value. So called brown spot disease, characterised by multiple, small, tan to brown lesions on skin in most body locations, has been recognised by farmers as an important disease problem because affected hides are downgraded. Several reports on crocodilian skin lesions have described the presence of a branching, filamentous organism and on this basis a tentative diagnosis of probable dermatophilosis has been made. Similar lesions have been noted in alligators' and a filamentous organism resembling Dermatophilus was isolated from several animals with brown spot lesions on one farm in Louisiana.