Mass occurrence of necrotic inflammation of the penis in ganders caused by phycomycetes

The study describes the mass occurrence of venereal infection in flocks of geese, the so-called atrophic penis inflammation of geese, in Czechoslovakia. The necrotic inflammation of the penis, which afflicted up to 94% of the ganders of one flock, was localized in the area of the capsule into which this organ is withdrawn when in repose. Catarrhal inflammatory changes evolved to erosion and diphtheroid pseudomembranes were apparent on the mucous membrane of the penis. Movable, later hard, nodes, filled with malodorous necrotic substance, formed in the deeper parts of the tissue. The inflammation, which prevented the emersion of the penis, was later the cause of its complete necrotization. No changes were observed on the mucous membrane of the cloaca of the geese in the affected flock, neither was egg production affected by the disease, but there was a drop in the number of fertile eggs. The disease, which spread rapidly through the flock and became chronic, was accompanied by a drop in weight of the affected ganders, though no deaths of birds were recorded. A mould of the species Mucor janssenii Lendner is thought to be the primary agent causing inflammation of the penis in ganders, while secondary bacterial infection plays an important role in the next phase of the disease. The pathogenicity of M. janssenii was proven in a biological test. The pathological process was favourably influenced by local application of a fungicidin combined with penicillin and streptomycin in a paraffin oil suspension.