Severe hepatopathy in geese and broilers associated with ochratoxin in their feed.

The feeding of a shipment of imported corn was associated with a severe reduction in growth and increased mortality in geese, and increased mortality in broilers. Pathological examinations revealed hepatopathy, visceral gout and mild nephropathy in geese, and in broilers an hepatopathy, which was often severe, and ascites. Samples of feed from affected geese farms were examined for up to 24 mycotoxins, and ochratoxin was found in 6 of 15 samples at levels up to 930 ng/g. The syndrome was experimentally reproduced by feeding geese and broilers suspect feeds with the natural ochratoxin contamination. It is believed that another, unidentified, mycotoxin was the major cause of the hepatotoxicity, and that ochratoxin served in this case as an indicator of a multi-mycotoxin involvement.