Mycotoxins in Horse Feed
Mycotoxins are formed on animal feeds when conditions of moisture and temperature allow the growth of naturally occurring molds. Mycotoxins are poisonous substances produced by molds in order to safeguard their food source (e.g., corn kernel) from a competitor - usually a bacterium. Although a few mycotoxins are “antibiotic” and used by humans (e.g., penicillin is produced by penicillin mold as a response to plant stress), most fungal toxins are damaging to animal health and contribute to liver, kidney, brain, skin, oral, gastrointestinal or reproductive toxicosis.
Mycotoxicosis is dose-dependent and can cause acute disease conditions when our horses and dogs consume critical quantities of them. Specific toxins attack specific organs. In acute mycotoxicosis, the signs of disease are clear and directly referable to the affected target organs. More commonly, however, concentrations of toxins in feeds are below those that cause acute disease and at these lower concentrations, the effects of fungal toxins are seen as chronic problems, such as unthrifty growth or swollen glands, skin and coat roughness, loss of body condition, diarrhea, blood in urine, increased colic incidence, poor reproductive performance, poor athletic performance, or elevated liver enzymes on a blood panel – or maybe as a horse that is just “not right.” Fungal toxins reduce the growth rate of young animals, and some interfere with immunologic responsiveness and resistance to disease, making the horses susceptible to frequent infections. These effects on immunity and resistance are difficult to recognize because the signs of disease are associated with the infection rather than with the mycotoxin that predisposed the animal to infection.
As part of our on-going commitment to food safety, Herbs for Horses samples all in-coming raw materials for mycotoxins, (as well as heavy metals, certain bacteria, and pesticides) using state of the art antigen-capture technology. We also test feedstuffs on behalf of our customers. The fall harvest of 2014 shows persistent levels of the following toxins in commercial horse feeds and lower cost cereal based canine diets: Deoxynivalenol (DON) commonly known as Vomitoxin (feed refusal), Zearalenone (ZEA) (brain abnormalities), Aflatoxins (liver carcinogen), T2/HT2 (oral lesions) and Ochratoxin (nephrogenic).
