Table: Fungal Poisoning in Domestic Animals - Merck Veterinary Manual

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Fungal Poisoning in Domestic Animals

Fungal Poisoning in Domestic Animals

Disease	Fungi or Molds	Regions Where Reported	Contaminated Toxic Foodstuff	Animal(s) Affected	Signs and Tissue Changes
Aflatoxicosis	Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus	Widespread (warmer climatic zones)	Moldy peanuts, soybeans, cottonseeds, rice, sorghum, corn (maize), other cereals	Dogs, chickens	Major effects are slow growth and toxicity of the liver
Ergotism	Claviceps purpurea	Widespread	Seedheads of many grasses, grains	Horses, chickens	Peripheral gangrene, late gestation suppression of lactation initiation
	Claviceps paspali, C. cinerea	Widespread	Seedheads of paspalum grasses	Horses	Acute tremors and incoordination
Estrogenism	Fusarium graminearum	Widespread	Moldy corn and pelleted cereal feeds	Chickens	Reduced egg production
Fescue foot	Acremonium coenophialum	US, Australia, New Zealand, Italy	Tall fescue grass (Festuca arundinacea)	Horses	Lameness, weight loss, fever, dry gangrene of extremities, no milk production, thickened fetal membranes
Fusariotoxicosis	Fusarium sporotrichoides, F culmorum, F graminearum, F nivale	Widespread	Cereal crops, moldy roughage	Horses, chickens	Feed refusal, decreased appetite and milk production, diarrhea, staggers, skin irritation, immunosuppression
Leukoencephalomalacia	Fusarium verticilloides	Egypt, US, South Africa, Greece	Moldy corn (maize)	Horses, other equids	Depends on degree and specific site of brain injury
Mycotoxic lupinosis (as distinct from alkaloid poisoning)	Phomopsis leptostromiformis	Widespread	Moldy seed, pods, stubble, and haulm of several Lupinus species affected by Phomopsis stem blight	Horses	Listlessness, no appetite, stupor, jaundice, marked liver injury; usually fatal
Myrotheciotoxicosis	Myrothecium verrucaria, M roridum	Southeast Europe, former Soviet Union	Moldy rye stubble, straw	Horses	Sudden—diarrhea, trouble breathing, bleeding in stomach and intestines, immunosuppression, death Longterm—Stomach and intestinal ulcers, unthriftiness, gradual recovery
Ochratoxicosis	Aspergillus ochraceus and others, Penicillium viridicatum, P citrinum	Widespread	Moldy barley, corn, wheat	Chickens	Kidney edema and enlargement, kidney failure, increased water consumption, immunosuppression
Penicillium-associated tremorgens	Penicillium crustosum, P cyclopium, P commune	Widespread	Cereal grains, cheese, fruit, meats, nuts, refrigerated foods, compost	Dogs, horses	Neurotoxic signs, including tremors, seizures, hyperexcitability, unsteadiness. Vomiting in dogs.
Perennial ryegrass staggers	Acremonium loliae, an endophyte fungus confined to Lolium perenne	Australia, New Zealand, Europe, US	Endophyte-infected ryegrass pastures	Horses	Tremors, incoordination, collapse, convulsive spasms
Poultry hemorrhagic syndrome	Probably Aspergillus flavus, A clavatus, Penicillium Purpurogenum, Alternaria sp	USA	moldy grain and meal	Growing chickens	Depression, lack of appetite, no weight gain, widespread internal bleeding, anemia, death
Slobbers syndrome	Rhizoctonia leguminicola	USA	Black patch disease, legumes (especially red clover) eaten as forage or hay	Horses	Drooling, bloat, diarrhea, sometimes death. Recovery usual when removed from clover.
Stachybotryotoxicosis	Stachybotrys atra (S alternans)	Former Soviet Union, southest Europe	Moldy roughage, other contaminated feed	Horses	Mouth sores, lack of appetite, bleeding in many organs, inflamed intestines, immunosuppression
Sweet clover poisoning	Penicillium, Mucor, and Aspergillus species	North America	Sweet clover (Melilotus species)	Horses	Stiffness, lameness, bleeding from the nose or into the gastrointestinal tract
Tremorgen ataxia syndrome	Penicillium crustosum, P puberulum, P verruculosum, P roqueforti, Aspergillus flavus, A fumigatus, A clavatus, and others	US, South Africa, probably worldwide	Moldy feed	All species	Tremors, rapid breathing, incoordination, collapse, convulsive spasms