Phycomycotic gastritis in buffalo calves (Bubalis bubalis)

Mycotic gastritis, primarily caused by Rhizopus sp. was seen in six buffalo calves (7-13 days old) at postmortem examination. The predominant lesions were numerous raised ulcers in which were hyphae of Rhizopus. In three calves, Candida organisms were also present superficially in the ulcers. Other changes in the mucosa were severe congestion, haemorrhage, thrombosis, necrosis, and infiltration by lymphocytes and neutrophils. Both Rhizopus and Candida were highly pathogenic to rabbits when inoculated intravenously. The disease could not be reproduced experimentally by feeding of Rhizopus orally to rabbits and calves.