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Mycoflora of the toxic feeds associated with equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) outbreaks in Brazil

  • Mycotoxicoses And Mycotoxins
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Abstract

The mycoflora of 39 feed samples associated with 29 Equine Leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) outbreaks was studied from 1988 to 1990, in Brazil. Microbiological examination indicatedFusarium spp. as the most frequent mold which occurred in 97.4% of samples followed byPenicillium spp. in 61.5% andAspergillus spp. in 35.9%. The moisture content of feed implicated in death of horses was above 15% which can favor the development ofFusarium spp. From the genus,F. moniliforme was the predominant species with an occurrence of 82.0%. Two additional species, not commonly associated with animal toxicosis, were isolated in low frequency,F. proliferatum (12.8%) andF. subglutinans (2.6%). It is important to emphasize that the isolation ofF. proliferatum andF. subglutinans from feed obtained from the epizootic areas has not been documented previously in Brazil.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel), Pelotas, RS, Brasil

    M. C. A. Meireles

  2. Seção de Micologia, Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo (ICB-USP), São Paulo, SP, Brasil

    B. Corrêa, W. Gambale, C. R. Paula & N. O. Chacon-Reche

  3. Setor de Micologia, Disciplina de Biologia Celular, Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM), São Paulo, SP, Brasil

    O. Fischman

  4. Instituto de Zootecnia (IZ), Secretaria de Agricultura do Estado de São Paulo, Nova Odessa, SP, Brasil

    C. R. Pozzi

Authors
  1. M. C. A. Meireles
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  2. B. Corrêa
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  3. O. Fischman
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  4. W. Gambale
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  6. N. O. Chacon-Reche
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  7. C. R. Pozzi
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Additional information

Part of the thesis of M.C.A. Meireles to get the degree of Doctor ‘Leucoencefalomalácia Eqüina (LEME) no Brasil: Aspectos epizootiológicos, microbiológicos e micotoxicológicos’, Preliminary communication in 1989, Congresso Brasileiro de Microbiologia, Rev Microbiol (São Paulo) 20 (Sup. 1): 359 (F 181).

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Meireles, M.C.A., Corrêa, B., Fischman, O. et al. Mycoflora of the toxic feeds associated with equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) outbreaks in Brazil. Mycopathologia 127, 183–188 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01102919

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01102919

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