Pathology of mycotic rumenitis and reticulitis in sheep - A case report

The current case report describes the pathology of mycotic rumenitis and reticulitis in sheep. A carcass of female adult sheep with a history of abortion (a few weeks before) was presented for necropsy at the post-mortem facility, Division of Pathology, IVRI. Post-mortem examination revealed focal to widespread, irregular, hemorrhagic, necrotic and transmural lesions on serosal and mucosal surfaces in the rumen and reticulum. The mucosal surface of the reticulum showed erosive, ulcerative and necrotic lesions with loss of honeycomb structure and characterized by whitish necrotic deposits. The reticulum at one side was firmly adhered to the diaphragm. The heart showed gelatinized epicardial fat. Histopathological examination of tissue samples showed the presence of numerous fungal hyphae in homogenous eosinophilic necrotic mucosa and infiltration of mononuclear cells in the submucosa and muscularis of the reticulum. The swabs from lesions of rumen and reticulum were found negative for Fusobacterium spp. and Clostridium spp. Further, PAS staining revealed the presence of magenta-colored numerous branching and septate hyphae and free chlamydospores in the reticulum.