Table: Mycotoxicoses in Domestic Animals

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. Also see Aflatoxicosis and see Mycotoxicoses.
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	Seed heads 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	Seed heads of paspalum grasses	Cattle, horses, sheep	Acute tremors and ataxia. See 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. Also see Estrogenism and Vulvovaginitis.
Facial eczema (Pithomycotoxicosis)	Sporidesmins	Pithomyces chartarum	Widespread	Toxic spores on pasture litter	Sheep, cattle, farmed deer	Also see Facial Eczema.
Fescue foot	Ergovaline	Neotyphodium coenophialum	USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy	Tall fescue grass (Lolium arundinacea)	Cattle, horses	Lameness, weight loss, hyperthermia, heat intolerance, dry gangrene of extremities, agalactia, thickened fetal membranes. Also see Fescue Poisoning.
Fusariotoxicosis, vomiting and feed refusal in pigs	Nonmacrocyclic trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, diacetoxyscirpenol [DAS], 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 and feed refusal (deoxynivalenol), loss of appetite and milk production, diarrhea, staggers, skin irritation, immunosuppression; recovery (from T-2, DAS) on removal of contaminated feed. Also see Trichothecene Toxicosis.
Leukoencephalomalacia	Fumonisin B₁	Fusarium verticilloides	Egypt, USA, South Africa, Greece	Moldy corn (maize)	Horses, other Equidae, pigs	Depends on degree and specific site of brain lesion. Also see Fumonisin Toxicosis.
Mycotoxic lupinosis (as distinct from alkaloid 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. Also see Mycotoxic Lupinosis.
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. Also see Trichothecene Toxicosis.
	Macrocyclic trichothecenes (baccharinoids)	M verrucaria	Brazil	Plants of Baccharis spp that contain the toxins	Cattle, other herbivores	Epithelial necrosis of GI tract. Also see Trichothecene Toxicosis.
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.
Penicillium-associated tremorgens	Penitrem A	P crustosum, P cyclopium, P commune	Widespread	Cereal grains, cheese, fruit, meats, nuts, refrigerated foods; compost	Cattle, dogs, horses, sheep	Neurotoxic signs, including continual tremors, seizures, hyperexcitability, ataxia. Vomiting and CNS signs in dogs.
	Roquefortine	P roqueforti		As above, and in silage
Perennial ryegrass staggers	Lolitrems	Lolium perenne,Neotyphodium lolii, an endophyte fungus confined to L perenne	Australia, New Zealand, Europe, USA	Endophyte-infected ryegrass pastures	Sheep, cattle, horses, deer	Tremors, incoordination, collapse, convulsive spasms. Also see Ryegrass Toxicity.
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.
Pulmonary edema, emphysema	4-Ipomeanol	Fusarium solani	USA	Moldy sweet potatoes	Cattle	Acute pulmonary edema, leading to interstitial pneumonia and emphysema.
Porcine pulmonary edema	Fumonisin B₁ and Fumonisin B₂	Fusarium verticilloides	USA, South Africa	Corn	Swine	Acute interlobular pulmonary edema and hydrothorax cause anoxia and cyanosis. Survivors may develop icterus and chronic hepatotoxicosis.
Slobbers syndrome	Slaframine (and swainsonine)	Rhizoctonia leguminicola	USA	Black patch disease, legumes (notably red clover) eaten as forage or hay	Sheep, cattle, horses	Salivation, bloat, diarrhea, sometimes death. Recovery usual when removed from clover. Also see Slaframine Toxicosis.
Stachybotryotoxicosis	Macrocyclic trichothecenes (satratoxin, roridin, verrucarin)	Stachybotrys atra (S 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. Also see Trichothecene Toxicosis.
Sweet clover poisoning	Dicumarol	Penicillium spp, Mucor spp, Aspergillus spp	North America	Sweet clover (Melilotus spp)	Cattle, horses, sheep	Vitamin K antagonism with coagulopathy and hemorrhage. Also see Sweet Clover Poisoning.
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; high-protein food products, even under refrigeration, eg, cream cheese, walnuts	All species, but dogs are quite susceptible	Tremors, polypnea, ataxia, collapse, convulsive spasms.

Merck Manual

Mycotoxicoses in Domestic Animals