Mycotic Pneumonia and Placentitis Caused by Mortierella wolfii I. Experimental Infections in Cattle and Sheep

Abstract

Five million spores of a pathogenic isolate of Mortierella wolfii, when inoculated intravenously into pregnant and nonpregnant cows, caused an acute mycotic pneumonia that resulted in death in less than 4 days. Doses of between 2.5 × 103 and 1 × 105 spores injected intravenously caused mycotic abortion in 16–34 days at 6–8 months of pregnancy. Doses of this order also caused focal, nonfatal pneumonia. Acute mycotic pneumonia was also induced in 6-month-old calves by intravenous injections of spores. Intratracheal, subcutaneous, and oral administration of M. wolfii spores did not produce lesions in cattle. Intravenous inoculation of cattle with up to 1.2 × 108 spores of Absidia ramosa and with 1.2 × 108 spores of Aspergillus fumigatus did not cause lesions. Intravenous administration of large numbers of spores of M. wolfil, A. fumigatus and A. ramosa to pregnant sheep did not cause lesions.