SPONTANEOUSLY ARISING DISEASE Spongy Myelinopathy in Newborn Beef Calves Associated with Consumption of Corn Infected with Stenocarpella maydis E. R. Odriozola * , A. G. Armi en † , J. F. Cora Ibarra * , I. M. Llada * , I. A. Erreguerena * , Y. P. Hecker ‡ , A. C. Ode on * , E. L. Morrell * and G. J. Cant  on * *Grupo de Sanidad Animal, Instituto Nacional de Tecnologı´a Agropecuaria, EEA Balcarce, CC 276, Argentina, † Ultrastructural Pathology Unit, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Minnesota, 1333 Gortner Ave, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA and ‡ Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientı´ficas y T  ecnicas, CC 276, Argentina Summary Stillbirth and perinatal mortality with neurological signs and lesions were diagnosed in two calves following ingestion by their dams of corn infected with Stenocarpella maydis during the third trimester of gestation. Grossly, the brain and spinal cord were unremarkable. Microscopically, diffuse severe status spongiosis of the white mat- ter was detected in the cerebral hemispheres, brainstem, spinal cord and cerebellum. To the best of our knowl- edge this is the first pathological description of congenital disease in calves associated with the consumption of S. maydis-infected corn; the findings resemble those reported for the naturally occurring and experimentally induced disease in lambs. Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: calf; congenital neurological disease; diplodiosis; Stenocarpella maydis Diplodiosis, a neuromycotoxicosis in cattle and sheep grazing maize infected with Stenocarpella maydis, has been diagnosed in Australia (Darvall, 1964), South Africa (Kellerman et al., 1985), Argentina (Odriozola et al., 2005) and Brazil (Riet-Correa et al., 2013). Fungi of the genus Stenocarpella also cause ear and stalk rot disease of maize. The fungus S. maydis is distributed worldwide, is found as a contaminant of common corn, and is particularly associated with extreme drought during flowering and high rainfall in the grain-filling period. Corn cobs affected with ear and stalk rot disease are recognized by the pres- ence of a thin layer of whiteegreyebrown mycelia. Extensive contamination results in marked loss in yield and quality of grain (Masango et al., 2015a,b). Diplodiosis in ruminants is characterized by ataxia, paresis and paralysis. Although mortality can be high, if affected livestock are removed from the intoxicated paddocks as soon as the first signs appear, recovery is possible (Kellerman et al., 1985; Rabie et al., 1985). Perinatal losses have been described in pregnant sheep and cows grazing in S. maydis-infected cornfields (Kellerman et al., 1991). Experimentally, pregnant ewes appear to be more susceptible to diplo- diosis when exposed to S. maydis during the second half of gestation (Prozesky et al., 1994). No gross le- sions are typically observed. Microscopically, the dis- ease in cattle is characterized by status spongiosis affecting the white matter of various regions of the brain (Prozesky et al., 1994; Odriozola et al., 2005). Diagnosis of diplodiosis is based on the presence of typical neurological signs, marked myelin degeneration with diffuse white matter spongiosis J. Comp. Path. 2019, Vol. 172, 22e26 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect www.elsevier.com/locate/jcpa Correspondence to: G. J. Cant on (e-mail: canton.german@inta.gob.ar). 0021-9975/$ - see front matter Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcpa.2019.08.005