Abstract
Mold toxicosis widely occurred in Hokkaido, from September 1962 through March 1963, and a number of horses suffered from remarkable damage.
This paper presents a taxonomic study of the molds isolated from 64 samples of feedstuffs, such as oats, hay, corn fodder, rice straw and bean pods, which caused mold toxicosis in horses. The results obtained were as follows:
1. Dominant poisonous molds in feedstuffs were classified into 3 different species, Fusarium graminearum SCHWABE, Alternaria tenuis NEES and Cladosporium herbarum (PERS.) LINK.
2. Fusarium graminearum, imperfect stage of Gibberella saubinetii, was isolated from every poisonous molded feedstuffs. The horses, which ingested feedstuffs heavily infected with the mold, presented a serious toxic symptom, and the degree of symptom was considered to be correlative to the mold growth.
3. Molded feedstuffs, caused serious diarrhoea, were usually damaged by the genus Fusarium. The fodder infected with Cladosporium together with Fusarium, however, caused not only diarrhoea, but also encephalitic symptom. If the poisoning was caused only by the infection with Fusarium, these feedstuffs must have given the similar symptom. From the above mentioned various toxic symptoms, it appeared that the toxic effect of Cladosporium was not negligible. On the other hand, Alternaria was not clear in its poisonous effect on feedstuffs.
