Rhinopharyngeal mycotic rhinitis in a Texel sheep in Rio Grande do Sul

Mycotic rhinitis is a granulomatous disease of infrequent occurrence that affects man and animals. Recently in the Center-West and Northeast of Brazil cases of mycotic rhinitis have been described in sheep. A farm in the city of Parobe, Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil four sheep died of a total thirty animals since january of 2007. The animals showing respiratory distress, intolerance to exercise and exudate on the nasal orifices and death after some days. One fifth seek sheep was sent to the Sector of Veterinary Pathology of the UFRGS for clinical examination and necropsy. The ovine presented respiratory distress due to partial blockage of the nasal orifices, intolerance to exercise, sneeze and bilateral serosanguineous nasal discharge. The main necropsy findings of the animal was friable yellowish and irregular masses in the ethmoidal region, nasals mucosa and choanal shells. In the left diaphragmatic pulmonary lobe two yellowished small 0,5 cm of diameter nodules were found. Histological examination of nasal mucosa and pulmonary nodules revealed multifocal necrosis with neutrophils macrophages and giant cells infiltrate surrounded hyphal structures. The brain presented piogranulomatous necrotic focus in the leptomeninge of the frontal lobule. Gomori methenamine-silver staining showed many hyphae. They were irregular and rarely septate. The immunohistochemistry for Pythium insidiosum was negative. Morphological aspects of the fungi structures in tissue are typical with Conidiobolomycosis.