MULTIPLE ORGAN MYCOSIS AND NEOPLASIA IN AN INDIAN ELEPHANT (ELEPHAS MAXIMUS INDICUS)

Abstract

A 58–year–old female Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), owned by the Zoological Garden in Sofia, was examined postmortem. The pathomorphological, imaging and microbiological studies revealed lobular exudative pneumonia and zonal interstitial fibrosis with supramiliary calcifications and single extensive ossified areas. The uterine musculature was neoplastically transformed, and the endometrium with catarrhal–purulent inflammation. The results of the performed microbiological tests show the probable development of mycosis in the lungs and uterus of the animal, with the causative agent Penicillium oxalicum. The obtained results are not described in the available worldwide literature, for the wild and circus and zoo–bred representatives of the elephant family.