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A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
Date: Sat 29 Jan 2011
Source: CrabbyGolightly [edited]
Fatalists can put away their rosary beads as Wisconsin officials say "bad
spuds" and not the impending Apocalypse killed 200 cows on a Wisconsin farm
last week [week of 14 Jan 2011]. "The cows were poisoned by a toxin found
in moldy sweet potatoes, which apparently were mixed in with potato waste
fed to the animals," said Peter Vanderloo, associate director of the
Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
The 200 Holstein steers keeled over on or before 14 Jan 2011 on a farm near
Portage County just weeks after thousands of birds and fish died in
Arkansas. But in Wisconsin, something less sinister was at work in the
deaths of 200 cattle. Tests on feed samples revealed the presence of
ipomeanol, a mycotoxin found in moldy sweet potatoes, says Dr Vanderloo.
"Based on history, clinical signs, changes in tissue, and test results from
our lab and a referral laboratory, it is likely that a mycotoxin from moldy
sweet potato was a major factor in the disease and deaths of these steers,"
Vanderloo said in the release.
[byline: Elizabeth C]
--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
[Moldy sweet potatoes have been known for a long time to produce a toxin
that harms the lungs and can cause death. The sweet potato (_Ipomoea
batatas_) is susceptible to the fungus _Fusarium solani_ (_F. javanicum_).
This fungus in the sweet potato produces a furanoterpene, which affects the
pulmonary epithelium causing the characteristic lesions of atypical
interstitial pneumonia when consumed by cattle. The toxin produced is from
the furanosesquiterpenoid phytoalexins. Feeding sweet potatoes is a common
practice. It is only when they get mold that there is a problem. - Mod.TG
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Wisconsin can be accessed at
[see also:
Undiagnosed die-off, bovine - USA (WI), susp resp dis 20110115.0182]
.................sb/tg/mj/sh
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