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The mid-January edition of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reports on the increasing incidence rate of mycotoxicoses in food animals. Focusing primarily on the hog industry, veterinary toxicologists and swine specialists commented on the high rate of recovery of vomitoxin (also known as deoxynivalenol, or DON) from corn destined for hog feed in the Midwest. DON is associated with feed refusal and, if levels exceed six parts per million, losses occur as a result of gastric ulcers, starvation and increased susceptibility to diseases of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract.
Hog producers are also concerned about the presence of zearalenone, which is responsible for reproductive failure in sows.
Most feed mills are now implementing intensified mycotoxin assays in an attempt to identify consignments with high mycotoxin content. Simple immune-based test kits or laboratory chromatography assays are required to determine the range and approximate levels of toxins present in feeds. A comprehensive evaluation program would include determination of moisture content and fluorescence, which are indicators of mold contamination. Segregation is, however, both difficult and expensive.
Since tolerance to various mycotoxins varies among species, readers are advised to access the information contained in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s veterinary Web site under “animal food and feeds” and “myxotoxins and feeds."