Mycotoxin Symptoms – What You Should Know!

Mycotoxins are natural substances produced by moulds. All natural materials and many man-made ones are subject to contamination by moulds and under favourable environmental conditions, when temperature and moisture are conducive, these fungi proliferate and may produce mycotoxins. Over 500 mycotoxins have been identified and this number is steadily increasing. There are several different species of moulds, which generate these mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are the subsidiary metabolites as a biotic armament against other life forms.  Mycotoxin symptoms depend on the type of mycotoxin.

Origin of Mycotoxins:

1. Food and Agriculture: Agriculture has big issues with mycotoxins. Over 25% of the world's agriculture is affected by mycotoxins. Crops like corn, wheat, and peanuts are the origins for mycotoxins and these gradually end up in food. If the crops are not properly stored after harvesting, then moulds can grow and spoil the crops.
   

Types of Mycotoxin:

Below are some of the most common mycotoxin types:

1. Aflatoxins
2. Trichothecenes
3. Zearalenone
4. Ergot Alkaloids
5. Fescue toxins
6. Sporidesmin
   

Symptoms of Mycotoxins:
Mycotoxins can affect animals in a number of ways. Below are some of the mycotoxin symptoms:

• Immunosuppression: Low immunity against environmental and microbial stressors. More vulnerable to diseases.
• Decreased food consumption and dairy production (eg: milk, eggs, meat). Significant weight loss and decreased weight gain.
• Increased body temperature.
• Increased liver weight, kidney weight. Higher incidence of liver damage and cancer.
• Reproductive effects such as decreased breeding efficiency, infertility, compromised reproductive performance. Higher abortion rates and lower pregnancy rates. Birth of smaller and unhealthy calves.
• Haemorrhage, bruises and swelling of the mouth or paunch.
• Neurotoxic effects such as restlessness, anorexia, occasional convulsions, and ryegrass staggers.
• Pathological changes such as diarrhoea, lameness, necrosis of abdominal fat.

Mycotoxin Contamination in Animal Feed - The Problems and the Solutions

Mycotoxins in animal feed is a widespread problem that concerns all animal farmers. Be it stored feed grains or natural lush forage hays; Mycotoxins are everywhere. Mycotoxins are natural substances produced by moulds. All natural materials and many man-made ones are subject to contamination by moulds and under favourable environmental conditions, when temperature and moisture are conducive, these fungi proliferate and may produce mycotoxins. Over 500 mycotoxins have been identified and this number is steadily increasing. Once ingested, Mycotoxins create a combination of medical conditions in animals, which is commonly referred to as mycotoxicosis. Mycotoxicosis results in a loss of productivity, reducing the overall health of the farm animals and in case of severe infections, it can also lead to the death of the animals.

Different Animal Feed Mycotoxins And Their Effects

Moulds that grow well in natural feed crops like maize, wheat, etc. and storage grains contribute to mycotoxicosis in animals. The most common fungi producing harmful Mycotoxins are Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium and Claviceps.. The various detrimental effects of the most important Mycotoxins on animals are as follows:

• Aflatoxin: Carcinogenic, causes liver cancer, liver diseases, immune suppression, etc.
• Fumonisin: Toxic effects on liver cells, toxicity in nephrons, pulmonary oedema, immune suppression, leukoencephalomalacia, etc.
• Ochratoxin: Immune suppression, frequent abortion, reduced feed intake, liver damage, nephrotoxicity, etc.
• Trichothecenes: Oedema, disrupted digestion, changes in blood circulation, reduced immunity, etc.
• Zearalenone: Frequent abortions, reduced reproductive capacity, reduced urge of copulation, atrophy conditions in both male and female gonads, oestrogenic disorders.
• Ergot alkaloids: Disrupted nervous system, suppressed immune responses, gangrenous syndrome, etc.
  

Both forage grass and feed grain can be contaminated with major Mycotoxins and after ingestion create the above-mentioned clinical conditions in animals.

Mycotoxicosis prevention methods:

As more than 500 known Mycotoxins naturally occur in farms and are often masked with sugar molecule bonding, sampling methods often fail to resolve the Mycotoxin contamination issues. Modern scientific approaches to mycotoxicosis prevention adapt two more significant feed additives that can either render the toxins harmless or control Mycotoxin production. These methods are as follows:

• Mycotoxin inhibitors: These compounds are harmless to the animals but when these are added to animal feed can significantly control mold growth and hence stop new Mycotoxin production.
• Mycotoxin adsorbents: Usually aluminosilicates or yeast cell wall derivatives are used to bind with already present Mycotoxins converting them into harmless complexes.
  

Apart from these methods, weed control, crop rotation, proper storage methods can also help in stopping Mycotoxin contamination.

Things You Need To Know About Storage Mycotoxin

Mycotoxins are a common problem on farms, and are natural substances produced by moulds. All natural materials and many man-made ones are subject to contamination by moulds and under favourable environmental conditions, when temperature and moisture are conducive, these fungi proliferate and may produce mycotoxins. Over 500 mycotoxins have been identified and this number is steadily increasing.

The impact of these Mycotoxins however can be severe on cattle, pigs, horses, poultry and fish. Moulds grow well on both forage and grains before they are harvested. Mycotoxin inhibitors can control the new fungal growth in crops. But that does not put an end to mould contamination as Storage Mycotoxins are very common in animal feed that is stored after the crop harvest. There are several reasons behind the growth of moulds and related Mycotoxins in a storage environment.

Factors promoting Mycotoxin contamination in storage feed:

• Poor drying conditions and the presence of more than 12% - 15% air moisture.
• Poor sealing and packaging.
• Delayed sealing of foraging and feed grain materials.
• Cold damp temperatures.
• Shady poor storage areas.
• Delayed harvesting of field crops.
• Silages.
• Well aerated atmosphere.
  

Types of storage moulds and related Mycotoxins:

The two most common storage fungi are Aspergillus and Penicillium. These moulds are tolerant to acids and they frequently occur in silages. There are several species related to these two moulds that produce toxic secondary metabolites known as Mycotoxins that commonly contaminate feed grains and foraging materials.

• The Mycotoxins produced by Aspergillus are - Aflatoxin, Fumitoxins, Ochratoxins, Cyclopiazonoic acid, Gliotoxin, Sterigmatocystin, Fumitremorgens etc. All the toxins can be found in great numbers in contaminated storage grains.  Aflatoxin deserves a special mention as it is the most common and it is heavily carcinogenic and can cause many issues within farm animals.
• The Mycotoxins produced by Penicillium are - Ochratoxin, Citrinin, Patulin, PR toxin, Roquefortin C, Penetrem, Mycophenolic acid, etc. Among these Ochratoxin, PR toxin and Patulin are the most common.
  

Clinical symptoms of storage toxin contamination:

• In the case of Aflatoxin: Reduced milk production, reduced immune responses, reduction in rumen motility, damaged liver (can even lead to hepatic cancer), frequent abortions, etc.
• In the case of Ochratoxins: Easily absorbed by the animal gut this Mycotoxin reduces protein synthesis in the animal’s body, effects the immune system adversely, affects kidneys, reduces normal enzyme actions, reduces cellular respiration, causes abortions and can even lead to cancer.
• In the case of PR toxins: Disturbs rumen homeostasis, retained placental conditions with frequent abortions, reduces normal feed intake, lethargy, irritation and inflammation of gut, etc.
  

In the case of Patulin: Reduced rumen function, reduced digestive capacity, carcinogenic and death. 

Some Ways To Deal With Mycotoxins Problem

Mycotoxins are toxic substances that may be present even in clean looking and well preserved feed for your cattle. They are present in almost all the animal feed and so a proper way to deal with the problem needs to be devised. Let’s look at some such ways.

• Grow and harvest cleaner crops
  

It is not possible to completely remove the mycotoxins but there are certain other ways in which you can handle the situation. One effective way is to grow and harvest cleaner crops for the cattle. After harvesting, the crop needs to be stored as quickly as possible in a clean clamp. This will not eliminate the threat of mycotoxins but it will help reduce the growth of mould in the grains.

• Minimise the impact of mycotoxins
  

Most cattle diets can suffer from mycotoxin contamination. So one should do everything possible to reduce the mycotoxin level in animal feed. A broad spectrum mycotoxin binder such as Alltech’s Mycosorb A+ can help mitigate the threat to animal health. The objective of adding a binder is to bind a wide range of mycotoxins in the feed rapidly after the cattle consumes it.

• Lab tests of feed
  

Lab tests will help you analyze and understand the level of mycotoxins present in your grain and once you get to know the level, it will help you to manage the problem effectively. Samples of the suspect grain can be sent to commercial analytical laboratory to evaluate the mycotoxins level. By knowing the level you can mix good quality grain with contaminated grain to reduce its harmful effect, but most importantly know the best inclusion rate for your mycotoxin binder depending on the level of risk to your animals and your profits.

Keep Your Livestock Safe From Mycotoxins With a Mycotoxin Binder

Any natural farm environment is home to not only crops and animals but also to fungi and molds, which produce Mycotoxins that can adversely affect the farms productivity. Molds primarily proliferate in cereals or feed such as maize.

Any farm feed subjected to improper storage can suffer mold growth. Even a small amount of mold can contain significant levels of Mycotoxins. This condition may not be detected by naked eye but Mycotoxin affected animals usually show the following symptoms:

• Sore hocks
• Reduced milk yield
• Abnormality in reproduction
• Poor health and disease prone animals
• Increased cell counts
• Degraded productivity

All of the above-mentioned symptoms in farm animals may be an indication of a Mycotoxin infection on a farm. A few common Mycotoxins that negatively impact the farm are Aflatoxin, fumonisin, ochratoxin, T2 toxin, zearalenone and vomitoxin. These are mainly produced by molds like Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium. Over five hundred different Mycotoxins have been discovered up to now. Feed grain can be contaminated by a single Mycotoxin or a mix of different Mycotoxins and hence it becomes difficult to eradicate the issue through sampling. Any Mycotoxin mitigation method must be efficient and effective enough to combat a broad spectrum of Mycotoxins.

Mycotoxin binding formulations and their effects:

A Mycotoxin binder is a formulation often containing active minerals and  gluco-mannans that bind to Mycotoxins reducing the impact of their toxicity. A good mycotoxin binder will provide a broad spectrum of toxicity mitigation. The combined action of gluco-mannans and active minerals is highly important in decreasing the threat from Mycotoxins and preventing financial losses to the farm.

Due to effective binding to feed additives the Mycotoxins fail to cross the intestinal walls of the animals and as the two are bound together the binder excretes the Mycotoxin along with itself out of the animal providing enough safety and protection to the animals.

Understanding What The Mycotoxin Inhibitor Is And Its Uses

Mycotoxin contamination is a common farm problem found across the globe. Basically these toxins are produced by molds. Some strains of fungi and molds are commonly known to produce Mycotoxins which impart negative effects on farm animals such as reduced feeding, poor breeding, weak and poor performing animals and also loss of the immune system. All of these adversely affect the farm’s profitability. It therefore becomes crucial to understand molds, Mycotoxins and their mitigation processes to prevent economic losses caused by Mycotoxin contamination.

Molds and their classifications:

Molds can be classified in to two broad classes according to their storage and harvesting process.

• The first is the field fungi that naturally grows on crops even before the crops are harvested. Fusarium sp. is a common example that is widely known for producing Mycotoxins like fumonisin, vomitoxin, DON, zearalenone, T2 etc. These molds require specific climatic conditions to grow and once an infection occurs, it is expected to hit an entire geographical location.
• The second type of mold is the storage mold. These require low moisture concentrations to grow and so reproduce very well in grain storage bins or grain facilities. These may or may not contaminate all the grain present in a bin and so these types are difficult to sample out or to detect. Aflatoxin producing molds such as Penicillium and Aspergillus are common examples of storage molds.
  

Mold and Mycotoxin Inhibiting agents:

A mycotoxin inhibitor or binder is a special formulation that is added to animal feeds. In activated conditions, these formulations reduce mold infection by putting an end to mold growth. As mold growth is reduced the chance of fungal proliferation in feed grain also reduces leading to a reduced chance of Mycotoxin contamination. Such inhibitors are often a mix of several organic acids, especially propionic acids being the chief component of a inhibitor formulation.

These inhibitors are most commonly used as feed additives and they do a wonderful job in preventing the proliferation of Mycotoxin producing molds.

The Affect of Mycotoxins on Livestock

Mycotoxins are toxic substance that are produced by mold that grows in the food of the livestock during the handling or storage. Molds can produce mycotoxins under a wide range of conditions and can enter the animal through feed or through their bedding.

How Mycotoxins Affect livestock?

Mycotoxins have a number of negative effects on livestock. Here are the most common types of ways that they can cause damage to livestock –

• Animals will start to eat less food than they usually do. Some might even refuse to eat at all.
• The animals will be able to absorb little nutrients from the food that they eat. In addition, their body will metabolise fewer nutrients in the body.
• The hormone system of the livestock can also be affected due to mycotoxins. The endocrine and exocrine systems will be adversely affected.
•  The immune system of the livestock will have to work a lot harder and will stop working entirely in time.
  

Biologically, mycotoxins can harm the livestock in a number of ways that is not seen with the naked eye at first. It produces liver and kidney toxicity. It also affects the central nervous system of the animals. It greatly altars the fertility and the reproduction cycles in the animals. More often than not it decreases the immune system of the body and makes it totally non-functioning. Some of the main types of mycotoxins that are produced from the fungus in grain are Aflatoxin, Ochratoxin, Trichothecene, Vomitoxin and Zearalenone.

How To Fight Mycotoxins?

First, you need to keep a check on the condition of the animals to find out if they are affected by mycotoxins. One of the best treatments is the binder that pulls the mycotoxins out of the system of the animal. You can normally see results within 30 days. In addition to that, the bedding of the animals needs to be cleaned more often in order to keep it mold free. You can also use a mold inhibitor in the grain itself in order to keep the infestation from occurring. The adding of mycotoxins additive to the feed can help increase the shelf life and prevent the mold development in  a number of situations.

How to Determine Safe Levels of Mycotoxins

Even after using the best quality control systems in the world, animal farmers often find themselves stuck with mycotoxin contaminated grain or feed. The first question that comes to mind is: are the levels of mycotoxin found in feed safe for the animals or do they need to  discard the whole batch. Before going into the details, we need to know the affect of mycotoxins on animals. This helps to determine whether the levels of mycotoxins can cause harm to the animals.

Chemical Class and Structure
There are about 500 types of fungi that cause mycotoxins to be present. These belong to different chemical classes and each of them affects the animals that consume them differently. Apart from that, the exact chemical structure of the mycotoxin and the binder inclusion rates are also important in order to reduce the toxicity levels.

Number of Mycotoxins Present
It has been noticed that in the majority of cases two or more mycotoxin contamination’s occur simultaneously. This can affect the toxicity levels of the mycotoxins that are present.

Species and Strain of Animals Affected by Mycotoxins
There are some animals that are more sensitive to mycotoxins whilst there are others that are less sensitive to it. Genetic improvement in farm animals also play a role in the kind of sensitivity that they show to mycotoxin viruses.

Health of the Animals
The stress levels, physiological state, nutritional levels and disease status of the animal  needs to be determined in order to find out the response in their body to certain levels of mycotoxins present in the feed.

Number of Animals Affected
Different numbers of animals need to be infected in order to judge the level of effect. Thus, the growth rate needs to be determined in order to determine the level of toxicity in the animals.

Sampling Procedure
The sampling procedure followed for the collection of the virus needs to be accurate as this is the basis on which the affect of the toxicity of the animal feed is determined.

Length of Time the Animals has been exposed
The tolerance levels to mycotoxins are determined by the exposure to the mycotoxin virus in the animals. The risk of harm to the animal is increased with increase in exposure time.

Treatment and Prevention of Mycotoxicosis in Poultry

Mycotoxicosis is a very common disease found in farm animals caused by a natural toxin produced by fungus. In poultry this disease mainly occurs from these toxin-producing fungi getting embedded and thriving in their grain and feed. Many of these mycotoxins exhibit additive or synergistic effects along with many other natural toxins, infectious agents, and nutritional deficiencies.  Quite a few of them are chemically stable and remain toxic for a long time. Their early treatment and prevention can go a long way in tackling this serious problem.

Treatment

Once the disease has been diagnosed, the immediate step should be to replace the toxic feed with clean, fresh feed. The treatment of the ongoing disease should be to heal and minimize the spread of disease. Often feeding the poultry with prescribed vitamins, or trace minerals such as selenium, proteins and lipids along with food and water supplementation can expedite the treatment. Substandard management practices are often detrimental to the infected poultry and must be sorted as soon as possible. Another great strategy for its treatment, especially if contaminated feed is present, is to feed specific nutrients that metabolize and form detoxicants. For instance, supplemental methionine and N-acetylcysteine can be a good antidote to counteract the aflatoxin infection by enhancing formation of the glutathione compound.

Prevention

They say prevention is the best cure. This adage holds especially true in this case. The most important but highly effective preventive measure can be to purchase high quality and mycotoxin contamination free feeds and ingredients. The second measure is to implement management practices that ward off the spread of mold and mycotoxin formation especially during the feed transportation and it’s storage.

The feed storage and the feeding systems must be regularly inspected to spot any flow problems. Mycotoxins thrive and flourish in decaying, crusted feed in feeders, feed mills, and storage bins. So cleaning them immediately and on a regular basis can have immediate benefits. Keeping the moisture of grain below 12% by sun drying them regularly can help in  mycotoxin inhibition.

How You Can Adapt A Comprehensive Strategy Of Mycotoxin Analysis For Your Animal Feed – Alltech MIKO

The contamination of animal feed with growing variations of moulds is leading to the rise of cases of mycotoxin poisoning in livestock. This is of grave concern for livestock farmers due to the subsequent impact on animal health and performance. There is a need for many farmers, producers and feed mills to implement better mycotoxin analysis programs at the feed level to curb this issue from the start. However, a greater part of the contamination is already predominant amongst the animals and there is a need for recovery methods to help reverse the issue quickly. As such, the strategy here should be all-inclusive from the very beginning of the feed cycle to carry on preventative measures whilst also being proactive with recovery and future monitoring to stop the progress of the contamination.

The Alltech mycotoxin management program is dedicated to working towards mycotoxin detection and control in animal feed processing. The Alltech MIKO program is a comprehensive analysis and control programme that can be applied to cross species utilisation. This incredible program has been developed after years of results oriented research. Here is a look at some of the concepts of the program and tips for livestock farmers on how to adapt the points of the strategy for checking the growth of mycotoxin threats in animal feed.

Alltech MIKO

At farm level, the Alltech MIKO steps start at the storage units where Alltech technicians test for mould growths and the condition of the unit. The exposure to rain or humidity delivery patterns are checked to understand the possibility of mould growth in the future. The feed mills are tested at the equipment level to understand the growth of mould during the processing of the feed. A strategy for better maintenance of equipment and storage areas is drawn up and put in to action. Diverse tools like technically engineered binding components are used with the view of restoring and reversing any harmful contamination that might have already spread among the feed as well as the animals.

Tips on adapting the Alltech MIKO strategies

• Start by calling in expert professional help from Alltech to start the hazard analysis program.
• Create critical checkpoints during your feed processes to check for any signs of mould growth at regular intervals.
• Always ensure upper limits of mould growth are enforced so that only high quality feed passes through the inspection.
• Ensure that particular restorative and corrective measures are planned and implemented to reverse the current infection situation with the animals.
• Always check for infection in the animals at regular intervals because some strains of mycotoxins might lie undetected in the feed and a regular check of the animals will reveal infections at the primary level.
• Always have a critical information recording procedure in place to ensure that your monitored data is catalogued for reference throughout your team. Often critical information might remain unnoticed due to simple miscommunication amongst team members.
• Finally, to enforce a hazard analysis program as diverse as this, you will need an enthused and motivated team. Always encourage individual team members to feel responsible towards the success of the program to ensure better success in adaptation.
  

How the Alltech Mycotoxin Management Program Can Break The Cycle Of Livestock Infections from Storage Mycotoxins

Toxicity in animal feed is one of the primary issues that most livestock farmers are facing in modern times. Technology has provided alternative feed arrangements to help livestock farmers cut back on feeding costs. However, the hidden risk associated with feed is low performance and increased animal infections due to storage moulds or Mycotoxins. With the launch of the Alltech Mycotoxins Management program, there is a possibility for farmers and producers to mitigate the threat from Mycotoxins.

Development of mycotoxins in pre-harvest and storage feed

Most varieties of mycotoxins are generated with the growth of the 4 main varieties of moulds pre harvest or with the storage of animal feeds. These moulds lead to the growth of some of the most vicious mycotoxins, which can affect a large variety of species including poultry, pigs, and ruminants. These mycotoxins affect the general health, performance, and reproductive qualities of the animals. Here is a look at these 4 major moulds.

• Fusarium – These are most commonly found in pre harvest crops and can even lead to mycotoxin production in live plants. Once the crops are harvested, the mould disappears but the mycotoxin levels remain constant.
• Aspergillus – One of the easier to find moulds in storage grains that can lead to the growth of mycotoxin levels.
• Pennicillum- Another very popular mould occurring in harvested grains, which leads to the growth of dangerous storage mycotoxins such as roquefortine C, and mycophenolic acid.
• Claviceps – Often leads to the production of masked mycotoxins, which are very difficult to detect under normal scans for toxicity in storage grains.
  

Once the symptoms of Mycotoxin Contamination are found in the livestock, farmers should start the Alltech Mycotoxin Management program to mitigate the threat posed by Mycotoxins – the hidden profit robbers.

Alltech 37+

The Alltech 37+ test is the cornerstone of an effective mycotoxin control program, and has been developed to detect the presence of over 37 different strains of mycotoxins in storage feed. The test can be applied to a number of alternative raw materials commonly used as feed. The test results help form part of a detailed report that can lead to the development of customised results and strategies for individual farms and producers according to particular challenges they face and the type of livestock species involved.

Alltech MIKO

This program has been developed based on the principles of HACCP. The program is an analysis strategy for existing and new feed coming in to your storage. It helps create a strategy that is most likely to break your cycle of mycotoxin contamination that is drastically affecting your animals. The strategy involves creating strategic checkpoints and refining a checking process to help record all vital feed information and monitor new procedures of preparing the feed.