Figure 5a: Skin ulceration in a moribund B. marinus from Westmoreland Station, Northern Territory, Australia showing ulcerating nodules on the skin due to mucormycosis.

Figure 5b: Histological section shows that the ulcer is associated with a necrosis of dermis and epidermis and an acute inflammatory response. Sphaerules of M. amphibiorum were found in the inflammatory reaction. H&E.

Figure 5c: Infection of the skin with M. amphibiorum appears to begin when sphaerules lodge in the subcutaneous lymphatic sinuses. This image shows an intact epidermis and dermis overlying a chronic ganulomatous lesion in the lymph sinus. Involvement of the skin (dermis, epidermis and dermal lymphatic sinuses) was found in 42% of B. marinus surveyed in Australia (Speare et al 1999), but skin ulcerations were the exception. M. amphibiorum could gain access to the external environment through skin ulcerations, in faeces when the intestine is infected and in urine with bladder infection.

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