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- Also known as mucormycosis, hyphomycosis and phycomycosis
- Caused by strains of Mucor, Absidia, Rhizopus and Mortierella
- Mucor circinelloides(rare), Rhizomucor pusillus and R. meihi
- Absidia corymbifera often causes zygomycosis in cattle and pigs
- Rhizopus arrhizus, R. microsporus and R. rhizopodormis
- Mortierella wolfi implicated in bovine abortion (mycotic placentitis), M. hygrophila in fowl and M.polycephala in cattle
- Occurs widely in nature
- Infection is by inhalation and ingestion
- Infects lymph nodes of the respiratory and alimentary tract
- Lymph nodes enlarge and become caseous
- Can cause stomach and intestinal ulcers
- Granulomatous lesions which can ulcerate
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- Mostly localised lesions but can be generalised
- Pigs
- Mediastinal and submandibular lymph nodes lesions
- Embolic tumours in the liver and lungs
- Can also be present in gastric ulcers
- Cattle
- Bronchial, mesenteric and mediastinal lymph nodes lesions
- Ulcers of the nasal cavity and abomasum also occur
- Often contaminate the placenta
- Horses, dogs, cats, sheep, mink, guinea-pigs and mice can also be infected
- Microscopically:
- Fragments of non-septate hyphae which are branched and coarse
- Rhizomucor produce a thick, grey mycelium and have short, black, spherical sporangia
- Mucor produce thick, colourless mycelium with no rhizoids. Globose spoangia with small spores are present and sporagiospores are simple or branched.
- Absidia resemble Rhizopus grossly
- Mortierella produce white, velvet colonies on Sabouraud's Dextrose and Blood agar
- Grows on Sabauraud's Dextrose agar
- Common contaminants
- Treatment is with Amphotericin B
- Surgery is also an option in treatment
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