Experimental aspergillosis in goats: clinical, haematological and mycological studies

Thirty-one (including ten lactating) healthy goats were divided into 3 groups viz. intravenous (I/V), intratracheal (I/T) and intramammary (I/M) on the basis of route of inoculation of Aspergillus fumigatus spores. Two animals were kept as control for each group. Clinical aspergillosis developed and was more severe and fatal in consequence in I/V group than those of other groups. Respiratory symptoms appeared and persisted in both I/V and I/T groups. Acute mastitis developed in the right infected udder halves only with a brief and transitory illness in all goats of I/M group and marked discrepancy in size between right inoculated and left uninfected udder halves was observed. Haematological examination revealed significant decrease of haemoglobin concentration and significant increase in both TLC and DLC (neutrophilia) in I/V group but no marked haematological change was observed in I/T and I/M groups. Mycological isolation in pure culture, demonstration of fungus in the impression smears by lactophenol cotton blue staining and in histological sections by PAS and GSM methods were achieved in the lungs, kidneys, heart, liver, spleen and abomasum in I/V group, in the lungs and occasionally in the mediastinal lymph node and liver in I/T group and in the right infected udder halves and their milk/secretions in I/M group.