Mycotoxicosis as an associated risk factor for colic

Fungus and molds are known to produce a number of toxins (mycotoxins) that affect horses, most notably neurological disease (encephalomalacia). This study looked at a population of horses that was suffering from an increase incidence of colic and death. They found some of the feeds had an unusually high level of mycotoxins and the horses that received these feeds were at increased risk of colic. The three most prevalent mycotoxins are known to be produced by organisms that infect grains and some are heat stable. The contamination could have happened in the field, or during storage or processing. Make sure you purchase your grains and feeds from reputable dealers with good storage and turnover of product and that you buy high quality feeds. The feeds should then be stored in areas and containers that promote some amount of ventilation to prevent excess humidity from building up.
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Clinical pathology of mycotoxicosis as an associated risk factor for colic in equine
Microb Pathog. 2021 Dec 30;105377.
Authors
N Gomaa 1 , M Elemiri 1 , Y Hegazy 1 , M Zeineldin 2 , M Nassif 1 , Y Alcala-Canto 3 , A Barbabosa-Pliego 4 , R R Rivas-Caceres 5 , M Abdelmegeid 1
Affiliations

1 Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafr-Elsheikh University, Egypt.
2 Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt.
3 Departamento de Parasitologia, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico.
4 Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de, México, Toluca, Mexico.
5 Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad, Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Electronic address: cdsalazar69@gmail.com.

Abstract

A retrospective cohort study was conducted on two Egyptian horse farms with most of horses were suffered from abdominal pain to describe the associations between the occurrence of mycotoxicosis and equine colic. The farms owner complain was an unexpected increase in number of colic cases and deaths among horses. The association between colic and risk factors (sex, type of food either dry or mixed with roughages and hematobiochemical parameters) was compared using independent sample T-test. The associations between possible prognostic indicators for colic caused by mycotoxicosis was estimated using logistic regression analysis model. The cumulative incidence, incidence rates for colic attacks, survival rate among diseased horses were additionally estimated. Our results showed that a total of 24 out of the 132 horses suffered from colic due to feeding of ration contaminated with high percent of mycotoxin including Aflatoxins, Ochratoxins and or fusarium mycotoxins. The total cumulative incidence of colic due to mycotoxicosis was 19.7%. The horses fed on dry rations had more chance of developing colic than horses fed on mixed rations (P < 0.05). The overall incidence rate of colic due to mycotoxicosis was estimated at 18 colic attack/1000 horse/month. The mortality rate of horses suffered from colic due to mycotoxicosis was estimated at 5.9% (5/85), while the case fatality rate was estimated at 25% (n = 5/20). In conclusion, our results showed that mycotoxicosis are considered an important risks factor for colic cases development in equine practice. Keywords: Abdominal pain; Colic; Farm; Horse; Mycotoxin.