Goat with fever and swollen lymph nodes diagnosed with histoplasmosis

Abstract

Following treatment for pneumonia, a 1-y-old female Nubian goat was presented because of a persistent fever for 3 mo and peripheral lymphadenopathy for 1 mo. Cytology and histology of the superficial cervical and prefemoral lymph nodes demonstrated a moderate-to-marked "left-shifted" lymphoid population, suggestive of lymphoma, and extremely rare extracellular, 2-4 µm, oval, basophilic yeast, consistent with. On immunohistochemistry, >95% of the lymphocytes demonstrated positive cytoplasmic and membranous immunoreactivity for CD3.spp. urine antigen and serum antibody testing were positive and negative, respectively. Panfungal PCR and sequencing of DNA extracted from scrolls of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue yielded matches towith 99-100% identity. Given the poor prognosis and persistent pyrexia, the animal was euthanized. Postmortem examination confirmed concurrent multicentric, intermediate-size, T-cell, lymphoblastic lymphoma and histoplasmosis; lesions consistent with intestinal coccidiosis and suspected pulmonarywere also noted. Although dimorphic fungi have been described previously in goats, lesions ofspp. had not been documented in this species, to our knowledge. Given the low disease burden, it is suspected that the lymphoma was primary, leading to an immunocompromised state and development of secondary, opportunistic infections.