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Rhinocerebral Zygomycosis Due to a Lichtheimia ramosa Infection in a Calf: Neural Spread Through the Olfactory Nerves

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Abstract

Here, we report a case of rhinocerebral zygomycosis due to a Lichtheimia ramosa infection in a calf. A histopathological examination revealed that a fungus had invaded the brain through the olfactory nerves. Lichtheimia ramosa was detected by polymerase chain reaction analysis of DNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples of the affected tissue. This is the first case of rhinocerebral zygomycosis to involve cattle. Also, this is the first such case to involve fungal invasion into the central nervous system through the cranial nerve itself, rather than through perineural tissue.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mrs. Tomikawa for her technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan

    Yusuke Tanaka, Takahito Toyotome & Hisashi Inokuma

  2. Research Center for Global Agromedicine, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Nishi 2-11, Obihiro-Shi, Hokkaido, 080-8555, Japan

    Ken-ichi Watanabe, Yoshiyasu Kobayashi & Noriyuki Horiuchi

Authors
  1. Yusuke Tanaka
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  2. Takahito Toyotome
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  3. Hisashi Inokuma
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  4. Ken-ichi Watanabe
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Correspondence to Noriyuki Horiuchi.

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Human and Animal Rights

This study did not contain any experiments involving human subjects. In addition, no animal experiments were performed in this study. The animal described in the present article was submitted as a necropsy sample after its death, and all of the procedures applied to the animal were approved by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (Permit Number: 29-153). All applicable international, national, and institutional guidelines for the care of animals were followed.

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Handling Editor: Mario Augusto Ono.

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Tanaka, Y., Toyotome, T., Inokuma, H. et al. Rhinocerebral Zygomycosis Due to a Lichtheimia ramosa Infection in a Calf: Neural Spread Through the Olfactory Nerves. Mycopathologia 184, 141–146 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-018-0296-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-018-0296-z

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