Experimental mycoplasmal pneumonia in dogs: electron microscopy of infected tissue.

Thin sections of lung tissue from dogs with pneumonia induced by endobronchial inoculation of Mycoplasma cynos were examined by electron microscopy. Mycoplasmas were observed extracellularly in lumen of bronchus and in alveoli in the earlier stages of the infection. The infection also resulted in degenerative changes in the bronchial epithelial cells, including in particular destruction and loss of cilia.