Special Veterinary Pathology

Mycotoxicoses

MYCOTOXICOSIS (MOULDY FEEDS)

• A large number of disorders in which disease or death is due to the ingestion of fungi, or their products (toxins) produced by fungi in or on the animal’s feed
• Collectively these disorders are called “Mycotoxicoses”
• Disease resulting from mycotoxins have been known for centuries
• However with the awareness of aflatoxicosis in the 1960s interest in mycotoxins expanded rapidly, and many new and old disease were recognized as being caused by toxic metabolites of fungi
• The search for other mycotoxins has resulted in identification of a large number of additional mycotoxins
• There are no common clinical or pathological features with mycotoxicoses
• Many are hepatotoxic , but changes produced are of different types, ranging from neoplasia to neurological dysfunction
• Some of the more important and better studied mycotoxicoses are listed