Hemorrhagic Syndrome of Chicks Produced by Penicillium citrinum AUA-532 Contaminated Corn

Abstract

Rations containing 0%, 6.2%, and 62% Penicillium citrinum contaminated corn were fed to White Leghorn chicks for 5 weeks. The 62% ration induced hemorrhaging throughout the digestive tract which resembled the lesions observed in acute cases of the poultry hemorrhagic syndrome. The 6.2% ration caused atrophy of lymphoid tissue, anemia, leucopenia, and fatty bone marrow which resembled the lesions observed in chronic cases of the poultry hemorrhagic syndrome. The syndrome was reproduced in chicks using ethanol and chloroform extracts of the P. citrinum contaminated corn.