Mycobiota and concentration of ochratoxin A in concentrated poultry feed from Venezuela

Estimation of ochratoxin A in poultry feed and its ingredients with special reference to temperature conditions

1. The present study was designed to analyse ochratoxin A (OTA) in poultry feed samples (mixed types) along with different poultry feed ingredients collected from different farms and market of Lahore, Pakistan. 2. The whole year (2012-2013) was divided into three sub-periods depending upon environmental conditions, that is, July-October (hot and humid), November-February (winter) and March-June (moderate). During each sub-period 120 samples were collected for each feed and each ingredient constituting a total of 840 samples (120x7 of feed and feed ingredients in each sub-period). 3. The results of this study indicated that the incidence of OTA-positive samples was highest in July-October followed by that during March-June while the incidence was minimum during November-February. Similarly, the largest number of samples was below the maximum tolerable level (MTL) during November-February followed by March-June while the least number of samples was below MTL during hot weather (July-October). 4. This is the first elaborative study regarding the levels of OTA in poultry feed and its ingredients collected from Lahore, Pakistan.

Ochratoxin A in feed of food-producing animals: an undesirable mycotoxin with health and performance effects

Mycotoxins are secondary fungal metabolites, whose presence in feed- and foodstuffs is unavoidable. Ochratoxin A (OTA) is one of the known mycotoxins with greatest public health and agro-economic significance. Several toxic effects have been ascribed following exposure, namely nephrotoxicity, as well negative impacts in the performance of farm animals, resulting in major economic implications. Of no less importance for the route of human exposure that can also embody the carry-over of OTA from feed into animal-derived products is also a concern. For all these reasons the present article updates the worldwide occurrence of OTA in different raw ingredients and finished feed destined to food-producing animals. After that a brief characterization of specie susceptibility and the major rationales is made. An historical overview of field outbreaks linked to OTA exposure in farm animals, concerning the implicated feeds, contamination levels and major clinical and productivity effects is presented. Finally a review of the major animal health and performance potential impacts of animals being reared on contaminated feed is made allied to a perspective regarding its co-occurrence with other mycotoxins, and simultaneous parasitic and bacterial infections. Ultimately, this article aims to be instructive and draw attention to a mycotoxin so often neglected and elapsed from the list of differential diagnosis in farm practice. For the unpredictability and unavoidability of occurrence, OTA will definitely be an enduring problem in animal production.