Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Mycotoxicosis in Horse

    Uploaded by

    Dr.Kedar Karki ,M.V.Sc.Preventive Vet.Medicine CLSU Philippines
    140 views18 pages
    Mycotoxicosis in Equine Introduction Research into Mycotoxins has shown they present a real threat to the performance and health of horses. Most of this research has been extrapolated from other agricultural species such as pigs and cows, however significant new research is now being carried out on horses. Horses are not agricultural animals and are used mainly for athletic work, competition and/or breeding. Many horses are simply companion animals, including those that have been retired from athletic competition or breeding. In addition, horses have a longer lifespan than agricultural animals. Horses used for competitions such as racing, eventing, dressage, polo, long distance riding and show jumping are high value animals and economic losses from reduced performance and health problems due to mycotoxins may be significant. These horses are extremely fit and therefore subject to higher levels of stress not only from the high work level, but also travelling and competing. This has a negative effect on the immune system, which consequently may be more susceptible to the effects of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are known to negatively affect reproductive performance in breeding stock. What are mycotoxins? The word mycotoxin stems from the Greek word "mykes" meaning mould and "toxicum" meaning poison. Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi growing on crops in the field, during handling and in storage. Mycotoxins are capable of causing disease, which may be potentially fatal. Fungi only produce mycotoxins under favourable conditions such as specific moisture levels, oxygen levels in the air and temperature, in other words the presence of fungi does not necessarily indicate the presence of mycotoxins. There are thousands of different species of fungi, but only a relatively small number (about 100 species) have the ability to produce mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are often found in cereals such as oats, barley, maize and wheat and their by-products. They may also be found on pasture and therefore conserved forage in certain environmental conditions. Forage and traditionally cereals play a huge role in the diet of horses, particularly cereals in performance horses. Mycotoxins enter the horse via feed, forage or bedding. In fact mycotoxins are odourless and horses cannot taste them in feed, making ingestion more likely. Ingestion of contaminated feed or forage and inhalation from mould-infested bedding and haylage are all-important causes of exposure. Low-level intakes of mycotoxins over long periods are likely to produce chronic toxicological symptoms. This may affect athletic performance and breeding capability possibly without actual obvious disease symptoms. General symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, unthriftiness, poor performance, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, reduced growth rates and poor breeding performance for example increased red bag delivery may all be associated with chronic mycotoxin intake. Because mycotoxins negatively affect equine performance and health, mycotoxin control is crucial for equine welfare and feed safety reasons. Historically, human cases of ergotism or St. Anthony's Fire have been described in Europe since the Middle Ages and are now known to be caused by mycotoxins produced in rye by the mould Claviceps purpurea. In 1960, an outbreak of Turkey X disease in England and the subsequent discovery of the aflatoxins stimulated great interest in the field of mycotoxin research. Since then many more mycotoxins, such as trichothecenes, zearalenone, ochratoxins and fumonisins have been discovered. The term mycoses refers to actual growth of fungi on the animal host whereas the term mycotoxicoses refers to the disease caused by ingestion or inhalation of toxic fungal metabolites by the animal. Fungi may be present within the plants and these are known as endophytes. These fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the host plant, making it more resistan

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Mycotoxicosis in Equine Introduction Research into Mycotoxins has shown they present a real threat to the performance and health of horses. Most of this research has been extrapolated from other agricultural species such as pigs and cows, however significant new research is now being carried out on horses. Horses are not agricultural animals and are used mainly for athletic work, competition and/or breeding. Many horses are simply companion animals, including those that have been retired from athletic competition or breeding. In addition, horses have a longer lifespan than agricultural animals. Horses used for competitions such as racing, eventing, dressage, polo, long distance riding and show jumping are high value animals and economic losses from reduced performance and health problems due to mycotoxins may be significant. These horses are extremely fit and therefore subject to higher levels of stress not only from the high work level, but also travelling and competing. This has a negative effect on the immune system, which consequently may be more susceptible to the effects of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are known to negatively affect reproductive performance in breeding stock. What are mycotoxins? The word mycotoxin stems from the Greek word "mykes" meaning mould and "toxicum" meaning poison. Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi growing on crops in the field, during handling and in storage. Mycotoxins are capable of causing disease, which may be potentially fatal. Fungi only produce mycotoxins under favourable conditions such as specific moisture levels, oxygen levels in the air and temperature, in other words the presence of fungi does not necessarily indicate the presence of mycotoxins. There are thousands of different species of fungi, but only a relatively small number (about 100 species) have the ability to produce mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are often found in cereals such as oats, barley, maize and wheat and their by-products. They may also be found on pasture and therefore conserved forage in certain environmental conditions. Forage and traditionally cereals play a huge role in the diet of horses, particularly cereals in performance horses. Mycotoxins enter the horse via feed, forage or bedding. In fact mycotoxins are odourless and horses cannot taste them in feed, making ingestion more likely. Ingestion of contaminated feed or forage and inhalation from mould-infested bedding and haylage are all-important causes of exposure. Low-level intakes of mycotoxins over long periods are likely to produce chronic toxicological symptoms. This may affect athletic performance and breeding capability possibly without actual obvious disease symptoms. General symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, unthriftiness, poor performance, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, reduced growth rates and poor breeding performance for example increased red bag delivery may all be associated with chronic mycotoxin intake. Because mycotoxins negatively affect equine performance and health, mycotoxin control is crucial for equine welfare and feed safety reasons. Historically, human cases of ergotism or St. Anthony's Fire have been described in Europe since the Middle Ages and are now known to be caused by mycotoxins produced in rye by the mould Claviceps purpurea. In 1960, an outbreak of Turkey X disease in England and the subsequent discovery of the aflatoxins stimulated great interest in the field of mycotoxin research. Since then many more mycotoxins, such as trichothecenes, zearalenone, ochratoxins and fumonisins have been discovered. The term mycoses refers to actual growth of fungi on the animal host whereas the term mycotoxicoses refers to the disease caused by ingestion or inhalation of toxic fungal metabolites by the animal. Fungi may be present within the plants and these are known as endophytes. These fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the host plant, making it more resistan

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    140 views18 pages

    Mycotoxicosis in Horse

    Uploaded by

    Dr.Kedar Karki ,M.V.Sc.Preventive Vet.Medicine CLSU Philippines
    Mycotoxicosis in Equine Introduction Research into Mycotoxins has shown they present a real threat to the performance and health of horses. Most of this research has been extrapolated from other agricultural species such as pigs and cows, however significant new research is now being carried out on horses. Horses are not agricultural animals and are used mainly for athletic work, competition and/or breeding. Many horses are simply companion animals, including those that have been retired from athletic competition or breeding. In addition, horses have a longer lifespan than agricultural animals. Horses used for competitions such as racing, eventing, dressage, polo, long distance riding and show jumping are high value animals and economic losses from reduced performance and health problems due to mycotoxins may be significant. These horses are extremely fit and therefore subject to higher levels of stress not only from the high work level, but also travelling and competing. This has a negative effect on the immune system, which consequently may be more susceptible to the effects of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are known to negatively affect reproductive performance in breeding stock. What are mycotoxins? The word mycotoxin stems from the Greek word "mykes" meaning mould and "toxicum" meaning poison. Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi growing on crops in the field, during handling and in storage. Mycotoxins are capable of causing disease, which may be potentially fatal. Fungi only produce mycotoxins under favourable conditions such as specific moisture levels, oxygen levels in the air and temperature, in other words the presence of fungi does not necessarily indicate the presence of mycotoxins. There are thousands of different species of fungi, but only a relatively small number (about 100 species) have the ability to produce mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are often found in cereals such as oats, barley, maize and wheat and their by-products. They may also be found on pasture and therefore conserved forage in certain environmental conditions. Forage and traditionally cereals play a huge role in the diet of horses, particularly cereals in performance horses. Mycotoxins enter the horse via feed, forage or bedding. In fact mycotoxins are odourless and horses cannot taste them in feed, making ingestion more likely. Ingestion of contaminated feed or forage and inhalation from mould-infested bedding and haylage are all-important causes of exposure. Low-level intakes of mycotoxins over long periods are likely to produce chronic toxicological symptoms. This may affect athletic performance and breeding capability possibly without actual obvious disease symptoms. General symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, unthriftiness, poor performance, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, reduced growth rates and poor breeding performance for example increased red bag delivery may all be associated with chronic mycotoxin intake. Because mycotoxins negatively affect equine performance and health, mycotoxin control is crucial for equine welfare and feed safety reasons. Historically, human cases of ergotism or St. Anthony's Fire have been described in Europe since the Middle Ages and are now known to be caused by mycotoxins produced in rye by the mould Claviceps purpurea. In 1960, an outbreak of Turkey X disease in England and the subsequent discovery of the aflatoxins stimulated great interest in the field of mycotoxin research. Since then many more mycotoxins, such as trichothecenes, zearalenone, ochratoxins and fumonisins have been discovered. The term mycoses refers to actual growth of fungi on the animal host whereas the term mycotoxicoses refers to the disease caused by ingestion or inhalation of toxic fungal metabolites by the animal. Fungi may be present within the plants and these are known as endophytes. These fungi have a symbiotic relationship with the host plant, making it more resistan

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 18

    Mycotoxicosis in horse

    Dr.Kedar Karki
    Mycotoxicoses

    • The contamination of feedstuffs with mycotoxins poses a


    serious threat to the health and productivity of animals.
    Mycotoxicoses are animal or human diseases caused by
    mycotoxin ingestion, inhalation or skin-contact. The effects
    of mycotoxicoses in animals are diverse, varying from
    immune suppression to death in severe cases, depending on
    toxin-related (type of mycotoxin consumed, level and
    duration of intake), animal-related (species, sex, age, breed,
    general health, immune status, nutritional standing) and
    environmental (farm management, hygiene, temperature)
    factors.
    Mycotoxinshave different effects on the
    various organs and in the animal
    productivity and health. Below a simple
    explanation of the terms that will be
    used to describe the effects of
    mycotoxins in animals is given:
    Immunosuppres when one or more functions of the immune system are suppressed, resulting in an
    sion: impaired resistance to infectious agents.

    Hematopoietic hematopoiesis refers to the production of all types of bloods cells from the primitive
    Effects: cells (stem cells) in the bone marrow. The dysfunction of hematopoiesis leads
    firstly to the decrease of production of neutrophils (white cells that help the cell to
    kill and digest microorganisms engulfed by phagocytosis), thus perturbing the
    animals’ immune system and subsequently to the decrease of red blood cells,
    leading to anemia.

    Hepatotoxic
    Effects: hepatotoxicity refers to liver damage caused by toxic substances.

    Nephrotoxic nephrotoxicity refers to kidney damage caused by toxic substances. Nephropathy is


    Effects: the term used to describe kidney inflammation.
    Reproductive Effects: involve all the negative impacts in the reproductive
    system and in reproduction.

    Teratogenic Effects: refer to birth defects, both structural and functional,


    caused to the newborn.

    Neurotoxic Effects: when the nervous system is affected.

    Carcinogenic Effects: involve the promotion of cancer and of the spread of


    cancer cells.

    Dermal Effects: Dermal toxicity involves all the damage caused to the
    skin by toxic substances.
    Gastro-intestinal Effects: involve all the effects which
    are caused in the gastro-
    intestinal tract.

    Performance Effects: involve the changes in


    performance that can be
    detected by lower daily
    weight gain, poor feed
    conversion rates, lower
    production (eggs, milk)
    and decreased feed
    intake.
    Pathological Effects: pathology refers to the study of
    organs in order to examine the
    effects of a certain disease.
    Changes from the normal
    appearance of a certain organ are
    known as pathological changes.

    Residues: refer to the mycotoxin


    carry-over into blood and
    muscles which may and
    often lead to residues in
    animal products such as
    meat and eggs.
    Effects of mycotoxins on the health of
    horses
    • Some factors which complicate the process of dealing with
    mycotoxins are:
    • - Mycotoxins affect more than one system simultaneously,
    therefore producing a multiplicity of responses in the
    affected animals. This makes it harder to attribute the
    response to a single body system.
    - The effects observed are not necessarily unique to a given
    mycotoxin but may be shared by other toxins and
    pathogenic organisms, making it harder to establish a cause-
    effect relationship for individual mycotoxins.
    - Data gathered in experimental studies differ from the
    natural intoxications where there are many other factors
    (mentioned above) that can influence the disease condition.
    Also naturally caused mycotoxicoses are often more
    complex than those created in experimental studies due to
    the interactions between mycotoxins.
    • Due to these factors, it is possible that symptoms different
    to those presented below occur in animals. Younger animals
    are generally more susceptible to the toxic effects of all
    mycotoxins.
    hole-in the-head-disease caused by
    fumonisins
    Signs/Sym
    ptoms/
    Effects
    Remar
    ks

    Hepatotoxic effects Liver damage

    Aflatoxins

    Hemorrhages
    Hematopoietic effects
    Anemia
    S
    i
    g
    n
    s
    /
    S
    y
    m
    p
    t
    Effects
    o
    m
    s
    /
    R
    e
    m
    a
    r
    k
    Hepatotoxic s
    effects R
    e
    d
    u
    c
    Signs/Sympto
    Effects
    ms
    Decreased resistance
    to environmental
    Immunosu and microbial
    ppressio stressors
    Trichoth n Increased
    ecene susceptibility to
    s diseases
    Decreased Decreased feed intake
    performa Feed refusal
    nce Reduced weight
    Signs/Sympto
    Effects
    ms
    Equine
    leukoencephaloma
    lacia (ELEM):
    Decreased feed
    Fumonis Neurotoxic consumption;
    ins effects lameness; ataxia,
    oral and facial
    paralysis; head
    pressing;
    recumbency
    Signs/Sympto
    Effects
    ms/Remarks
    Infertility
    Reproducti Enlargement of the
    Zearale
    ve uterus
    none
    effects Abortions
    Vaginal prolapse
    Signs/Sympto
    Effects ms/Remar
    ks
    Decreased
    resistance to
    environmental
    Immune and microbial
    suppression stressors
    Increased
    susceptibility to
    diseases
    Neurotoxic
    Fescue Ryegrass staggers
    effects
    toxins
    Lower weight gain
    Increased body
    temperature
    Rough hair
    General effects coat
    Gangrenous
    necrosis of
    tissue in feet,
    tail and ears
    Signs/Symptoms
    Effects
    /Remarks

    Ergot
    Reproductive Reproductive
    Alkaloi
    effects abnormalities
    ds

    You might also like