Bovine Abortion by Mycotic Infection in Japan, Particularly Isolation and Identification of Aspergillus fumigatus, and Histopathological Observations

Six bovine abortion cases, among nineteen of those brought in for the pathological examination from 1961 to 1974, were diagnosed histologically as mycotic infectious abortion. In order to identify the causal fungi, mycological investigation was applied to one of the six cases, the nineteenth. Fungi were isolated from the cutaneous lesion, fetal membrane, and abomasal content. The fungus isolated was identified as Aspergillus fumigatus. Histopathologically, in the abomasal content, skin and fetal membrane in the nineteenth case, fungal hyphae were demonstrated. Degenerative inflammation in the placenta and dermatitis were observed, but the significant findings in the other organs were hardly noticed, except necrobiosis in the liver. This paper is the first report of bovine abortion by Aspergillus fumigatus in Japan.