swamp cancer

swamp cancer

a common lesion of the skin and mucosae of horses in tropical and subtropical regions. The lesions are dense granulation tissue in the form of an ulcer which may rapidly extend to 8 inches diameter. The tissue may contain cores of necrotic yellow or black, sometimes calcified, material referred to colloquially as leeches, grains or kunkurs. Distribution of the lesions varies with the etiology, but is concentrated mostly on the legs and ventral abdomen, below the medial canthus of the eye and on the muzzle and nearby mucosae. The cause may be any one of the following: Habronema megastoma larvae, or one of the fungi Hyphomyces destruens, Basidiobolus haptosporus or Entomophthora coronata. Called also hyphomycosis, bursatti, cutaneous habronemiasis, summer sore, equine phycomycosis, equine pythiosis, Florida horse leech.