VMC 311: Systematic Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology (2+1)

HISTORY

• Fungal toxins are referred to as mycotoxins and the diseases they produced are termed as mycotoxicosis.
• The epidemics of ergot poisoning caused by eating cereal grains infected with the parasitic fungus Claviceps purpura have been recorded since the middle ages, the toxin compounds responsible for this ergotism were identified in 1875. During 1942 – 1947, the disease alimentary toxic aleukia (ATA) outbreak occurred due to the consumption of mouldy cereal grains.
• One of the first, well-documented outbreaks of animal mycotoxicosis (aflatoxicosis) occurred in East Anglia, England in 1960 when more than 1,00,000 turkey poults died of an unknown disease (Turkey X disease). Subsequently, the examination of the incriminated grounnut meal revealed the presence of A.flavus mycelia and the toxic metabolites revealed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) were called aflatoxins.