2021 Volume 74 Issue 9 Pages 553-557
In August 2017, a Japanese Black cattle aborted, in Tokachi, Hokkaido. The placenta tissue of the mother cow showed necrotizing placentitis associated with a fungus that was of a similar shape to Aspergillus. A fungus isolated from the placenta was identified as Scedosporium apiospermum (S. apiospermum ) complex based on the shape and the internal transcribed spacer rDNA sequencing. Therefore, it was diagnosed that the abortion was caused by S. apiospermum complex infection. This fungus, which is found in soil and contaminated water in Japan, is known as one of the causes of severe pneumonia in humans. However, there are few reports of infection with S. apiospermum complex in livestock, and this is the first reported case in which S. apiospermum complex was isolated from the placenta of an aborted cattle in Japan. Genetic analysis was considered essential for diagnosis, in addition to histopathology, because the S. apiospermum complex showed a very similar shape to Aspergillus in the tissue.
