Pathogenicity and Neurological Effects of Oidiodendron kalrai for Mice

An experimental infection was induced in mice by intravenous and intraperitoneal inoculation with Oidiodendron kalrai. The infected mice developed a complex neurological syndrome consisting of hyperirritability, jumping, circling, and ataxia, followed by coma and death or by apparent recovery. Visible lesions accompanied by inflammatory reaction and fungal elements were seen only in kidneys, but organisms were also identified in and isolated from the liver, spleen, lungs, and brain. Cortisone alone or in combination with streptomycin rendered the mice highly susceptible to infection with O. kalrai, and lesions were found in the brains as well as in the kidneys of these mice. Treatment of infected mice with streptomycin alone increased the severity and duration of the neurological syndrome, but such treatment did not increase the mortality rate.