Bovine Aspergillosis Produced by the Inoculation of Conidiospores of Aspergillusfurnigatus into a Mesenteric or Jugular Vein

Abstract. Conidiospores of Aspergilliis fwinigatiis were inoculated during the second trimester of pregnancy into a mesenteric vein of 14 heifers and into a jugular vein of three additional heifers. Heifers were killed at intervals after inoculation. Lesions were confined largely to the placentas, livers, and lungs. Placental infection was present in seven of 14 heifers inoculated via a niesenteric vein and in the three heifers inoculated via a jugular vein. Fetal mycotic infection or lesions were not established. Two heifers inoculated via a niesenteric vein aborted. Mycotic granulomas developed in the livers and lungs. Many investigators have speculated that bovine mycotic placentitis may be secondary to primary mycotic lesions in the lungs or to the introduction of fungus into the genital tract a t the time of copulation. Intrajugular and intrauterine routes of inoculation have been used in most attempts to pro-duce the disease experimentally [2, 8, 101. The route of natural infection, however, remains an enigma. Primary lesions in the forestomachs, aboma-sum or intestine may result in metastasis of fungal infection to the placenta [3, 5, 131. Such infectious material, presumably conidiospores o r hyphae