Occurrence of Haplosporangium parvum in the Lungs of the Mole (Talpa europaea)

Abstract

DURING the spring of 1947 and again in 1953, large numbers of dead and dying moles were found on the Berkshire Downs, and examination (by A. McD.) of many of these and of others trapped at the same time showed evidence of pneumonia. Lesions of a granulomatous nature, varying greatly in size, were scattered throughout the lungs, often protruding above the surface, and histological examination showed these reactions to be invariably associated with the presence of a central thick-walled spherule, 100–200 microns in diameter (Fig. 1). Material from these animals was examined in the course of a survey of animal mycoses sponsored by the Agricultural Research Council, and the spherules were recognized as bearing a close resemblance to those found in Haplosporangium parvum Emmons and Ashburn infection in small mammals, hitherto only reported from North America by Emmons and Ashburn¹ and Dowding².