Systemic aspergillosis in a dog

Systemic aspergillosis was diagnosed in a two-and-a-half-year-old spayed German shepherd dog which had suffered an acute attack of paralysis of the pelvic limbs. The neurological deficits were attributed to the destruction of the seventh vertebral body and the intervertebral disc, with protrusion of necrotic material into the vertebral canal and compression of the spinal cord at this level. Microscopically, fungal invasion and destruction of the body of T-7 was observed and Aspergillus species were identified. Fungal granulomas were also found in the liver, lung, spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes.