Differential diagnosis
- Pyrrolizidine alkaloids
- Senecio poisoning


Etiology
- Aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus flavus and
  A parasiticus on peanuts, soybeans, corn, and other
  cereals


1. History taking
- Feed type: (predominant in peanuts, soybeans,
  corn)
- Toxicosis is related with species, sex, age,
  nutritional status of animals
- Duration of intake of suspected contaminated feed
- Adult cattle, sheep, and goats are relatively
  resistant to the acute form of the disease
- Sensitivity to toxin from most to least:-
among domestic animals:
duckling, pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens
among livestock:
piglets, pregnant sows, feeder pigs-calves-horses,
finishing hogs, lambs, dairy cows, feeder cattle,
mature sheep


2. Clinical examination
- Acute:
- Depression
- Anorexia
- Reduced gain or milk production in cow
- Subnormal temperature
- Sudden death
- Subacute: more usual
- Unthriftiness
- Weakness
- Anorexia
- Death
- Chronic:
- Poultry
- Decreased growth rate
- Reduced feed efficiency
- Steatorrhea
- Bruising
- Swine
- Anorexia
- Unthriftiness
- Slow growth
- Icterus

- Mild anemia
- Ascites
- Susceptible to infectious diseases


3. Necropsy
- Acute: widespread hemorrhages and icterus
- Subacute: liver enlargement and increased
  firmness,edema of the gallbladder
- Chronic: diffused liver fibrosis (cirrhosis) and
  cholangio- or hepatocellular carcinoma


4. Histopathological observation
- Acute:
- Fatty accumulations and massive
 centrilobular necrosis and hemorrhage in
 the liver
- Subacute:
- Proliferation and fibrosis of the bile ductules
- Increase in the size of hepatocytes and
 nuclei (megalocytosis) of the liver
- Glandular atrophy and inflammation of
 Gl mucosa
- Tubular degeneration and regeneration in
 kidney


5. Feed analysis
Specimen : feed
Method : chromatography
Dietary levels of aflatoxin (in ppb) generally tolerated
by animals are:
- young poultry < 50
- adult poultry < 100
- weaning pigs <50
- finishing pigs < 200
- calves <100
- cattle < 300


6. Tissue analysis
Specimen : liver, kidney, milk, urine
Method : analysis of aflatoxin B1 and M1 by
chromatography


Control and treatment
- Avoidance of contaminated feeds by monitoring
  batches for aflatoxin content