Mycotoxicoses in Domestic Animals


TABLE 02: Mycotoxicoses in Domestic Animals

Disease	Toxins (when known)	Fungi or Molds	Regions Where Reported	Contaminated Toxic Foodstuff	Animals Affected	Signs and Lesions
Aflatoxicosis	Aflatoxins	Aspergillus flavus , A parasiticus	Widespread (warmer climatic zones)	Moldy peanuts, soybeans, cottonseeds, rice, sorghum, corn (maize), other cereals	All poultry, pigs, cattle, sheep, dogs	Major effects in all species are slow growth and hepatotoxicosis. See also Aflatoxicosis, and poultry mycotoxicoses, Mycotoxicoses: Introduction .
Diplodiosis	Unknown	Diplodia zeae	South Africa	Moldy corn (maize)	Cattle, sheep	Nervous system disorders, cold and insensitive limbs. Recovery usual on removal of source.
Ergotism	Ergot alkaloids	Claviceps purpurea	Widespread	Seedheads of many grasses, grains	Cattle, horses, pigs, poultry	Peripheral gangrene, late gestation suppression of lactation initiation. See Ergotism.
	Paspalinine and paspalitrems, tremorgens	C paspali , C cinerea	Widespread	Seedheads of paspalum grasses	Cattle, horses, sheep	Acute tremors and ataxia. See paspalum staggers, Paspalum Staggers.
Estrogenism and vulvovaginitis	Zearalenone	Fusarium graminearum Perfect state: Gibberella zeae	Widespread	Moldy corn (maize) and pelleted cereal feeds, standing corn, corn silage, other grains	Pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry	Vulvovaginitis in pigs, anestrus or pseudopregnancy in mature sows, early embryonic death of swine embryos, estrogenism in cattle and sheep, reduced egg production in poultry. See also Estrogenism and Vulvovaginitis.
Facial eczema (Pithomycotoxi-cosis)	Sporidesmins	Pithomyces chartarum	Widespread	Toxic spores on pasture litter	Sheep, cattle, farmed deer	See also Facial Eczema.
Fescue foot	Ergovaline	Acremonium coenophialum	USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy	Tall fescue grass ( Festuca arundinacea )	Cattle, horses	Lameness, weight loss, hyperthermia, dry gangrene of extremities, agalactia, thickened fetal membranes. See also .
Leukoencephalomalacia	Fumonisin B₁	Fusarium moniliforme	Egypt, USA, South Africa, Greece	Moldy corn (maize)	Horses, other Equidae, pigs	Depends on degree and specific site of brain lesion. See also Fumonisin Toxicosis.
Mold nephrosis	See ochratoxicosis (below)
Mycotoxic lupinosis (as distinct from alka- loid poisoning)	Phomopsins	Phomopsis leptostromiformis	Widespread	Moldy seed, pods, stubble, and haulm of several Lupinus spp affected by Phomopsis stem blight	Sheep, occasionally cattle, horses, pigs	Lassitude, inappetence, stupor, icterus, marked liver injury. Usually fatal. See also Mycotoxic Lupinosis .
Ochratoxicosis	Ochratoxin, also citrinin	Aspergillus ochraceus and others, Penicillium viridicatum , P citrinum	Widespread	Moldy barley, corn (maize), wheat	Pigs, poultry	Perirenal edema, enlarged pale kidneys with cortical cysts, and tubular degeneration and fibrosis; immunosuppression, polyuria and polydipsia.
Perennial ryegrass staggers	Lolitrems	Acremonium loliae , an endophyte fungus confined to Lolium perenne	Australia, New Zealand, Europe, USA	Endophyte-infected ryegrass pastures	Sheep, cattle, horses, deer	Tremors, incoordination, collapse, convulsive spasms. See ryegrass staggers, .
Poultry hemorrhagic syndrome	Probably aflatoxins and rubratoxins	Probably Aspergillus flavus , A clavatus , Penicillium purpurogenum , Alternaria sp	USA	Moldy grain and meal	Growing chickens	Depression, anorexia, no weight gain, widespread internal hemorrhages, sometimes aplastic anemia, death. See mycotoxicoses, Mycotoxicoses: Introduction.
Pulmonary edema, emphysema	4-Ipomeanol	Fusarium solani	USA	Moldy sweet potatoes	Cattle	Pulmonary edema, leading to interstitial pneumonia and emphysema.
Porcine pulmonary edema	Fumonisin B₁ and Fumonisin B₂	Fusarium moniliforme and F proliferatum	USA, South Africa	Corn	Swine	Acute interlobular pulmonary edema and hydrothorax cause anoxia and cyanosis. Survivors may develop icterus and chronic hepatotoxicosis.
Slobbers	Slaframine (and swainsonine)	Rhizoctonia leguminicola	USA	Blackpatch-diseased legumes (notably red clover) eaten as forage or hay	Sheep, cattle	Salivation, bloat, diarrhea, sometimes death. Recovery usual when removed from clover. See also Diseases of the Mouth in Large Animals: Introduction and Slaframine Toxicosis.
Sweet clover poisoning	Dicumarol	Penicillium spp , Mucor spp , Aspergillus spp	North America	Sweet clover (Melilotus spp)	Cattle, horses, sheep	See also Sweet Clover Poisoning: Introduction.
Tremorgen ataxia syndrome	Penitrems, verruculogen, paxilline, fumitremorgens, aflatrems, roquefortine	Penicillium crustosum , P puberulum , P verruculosum , P roqueforti , Aspergillus flavus , A fumigatus , A clavatus, and others	USA, South Africa, probably worldwide	Moldy feed	All species	Tremors, polypnea, ataxia, collapse, convulsive spasms.
Trichothecene toxicosis
Fusariotoxicosis, vomiting and feed refusal in pigs	Nonmacrocyclic trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, diacetoxyscirpenol, many other trichothecenes)	Fusarium sporotrichioides , F culmorum , F graminearum , F nivale ; other fungal species	Widespread (except for deoxynivalenol, more likely in temperate to colder climates)	Cereal crops, moldy roughage	Pigs, cattle, horses, poultry	Vomiting, feed refusal, loss of appetite and milk production, diarrhea, staggers, skin irritation, immunosuppression; recovery on removal of contaminated feed. See also Trichothecene Toxicosis.
Stachybotryotoxicosis	Macrocyclic trichothecenes (satratoxin, roridin, verrucarin)	Stachybotrys atra (alternans)	Former USSR, southeast Europe	Moldy roughage, other contaminated feed	Horses, cattle, sheep, pigs	Stomatitis and ulceration, anorexia, leukopenia, extensive hemorrhages in many organs, inflammation and necrosis in the gut, immunosuppression.
Myrotheciotoxicosis, Dendrodochiotoxicosis	Macrocyclic trichothecenes (verrucarins, roridins, etc)	Myrothecium verrucaria , M roridum	Southeast Europe, former USSR	Moldy rye stubble, straw	Sheep, cattle, horses	Acute—diarrhea, respiratory distress, hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, immunosuppression, death. Chronic—ulceration of GI tract, unthriftiness, gradual recovery.
	Macrocyclic trichothecenes (baccharinoids)	Myrothecium verrucaria	Brazil	Plants of Baccharis spp that contain the toxins	Cattle, other herbivores	Epithelial necrosis of GI tract.

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