Leukoencephalomalacia Outbreak in Horses due to Consumption of Contaminated Hay

Vendruscolo, Cynthia P.; Frías, N.; Carvalho, Chrislanne Barreira de Macêdo; Sá, Lílian Rose Marques de; Belli, Carla Bargi; Baccarin, Raquel Yvonne Arantes

doi:10.1111/jvim.14588

Cited by 38 publications

(30 citation statements)

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“…Enquanto outros verificaram surtos com alta mortalidade de equinos consumindo ração com concentrações menores que 5 ppm [18,19]. Recentemente, dois surtos com mortalidade de 13 equinos ocorreram devido a ingestão de feno com concentração de fumonisinas variando de 0,02 a 0,12 ppm [21]. Ao que parece, alimentos com concentrações de fumonisinas até entre as membranas e organelas e no transporte iônico de Na + , K + e Ca ++ .…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

“…A contaminação concomitante da ração comercial com fumonisinas pode ter sido a responsável pela insuficiência de nervos cranianos observada no exame neurológico, além de causar lesões macroscópicas compatíveis com LEM em um cavalo (Equino D). Nessas áreas de malácia, as principais alterações histológicas consistiram de hemorragia, edema, dissolução do parênquima e cavitação; consideradas lesões características da doença em equídeos [6,8,10,15,19,21]. Tais lesões resultam da inibição da enzima ceramida sintase, levando a distúrbios na biossíntese de esfingolipídios.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

“…Apesar de existirem relatos de intoxicação por AI [1,3,12,14] e LEM [6,8,12,18,19,21] em equídeos no Brasil, a ocorrência simultânea de ambas as enfermidades pelo fornecimento da mesma ração comercial contaminada é inédito. Diante do exposto, objetiva-se descrever os achados epidemiológicos, clínicos, laboratoriais e patológicos de surtos de intoxicação por AI e LEM concomitantes em equinos.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

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Intoxicação por antibióticos ionóforos e leucoencefalomalácia concomitantes pelo consumo de ração comercial contaminada em equinos

Machado

Andrade²,

Moraes³

et al. 2018

Acta Scientiae. Vet.

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Background: Equidae nutritional change increased the frequency of diseases due to inappropriate administration and storage of rations. Although there are reports of ionophore poisoning (IP) and leukoencephalomalacia (LEM) in equidae from Brazil, the concurrent occurrence of both diseases by the same contaminated commercial ration is unprecedented. Therefore, the present paper aims to describe the epidemiological, clinical, laboratorial and pathological findings of concurrent IP and LEM outbreaks in horses.Cases: Eleven farmers from seven different locations in Distrito Federal, Midwestern Brazil, reported sudden clinical signs in 27 horses after the ingestion of commercial pelleted ration. During the farm visits, it was found that the ration brand and batches were identical, and macroscopic evaluation revealed no abnormalities. Eight horses were clinically evaluated and presented hyporexia, apathy, hypermetria, ataxia, dehydration, dyspnea, tongue hypotonia, muscle tremors, tachycardia, facial hypoalgesia, dysphagia, and sporadic or permanent recumbence. Laboratorial changes were restricted to creatine phosphokinase (mean: 1,573.4 ± 16.9 IU/L) and gammaglutamyl transferase (mean: 34.85 ± 29.14 IU/L) serum increases. Pathological evaluation has performed in eight horses presenting pallor and whitish striations in the gluteal, longissimus dorsi, femoral quadriceps muscles and myocardium, varying from mild to moderate. One horse also showed a soft and yellowish focal area on the right temporal lobe white matter. Microscopically, alterations in skeletal and cardiac muscle tissues included striated muscle fibers and cardiomyocytes segmental necrosis, characterized by sarcoplasmic fragmentation with clusters of eosinophilic debris, cellular retraction and hypereosinophilia. Histological alterations in the central nervous system of one horse were characteristic of LEM. Ration samples analysis revealed the presence of salinomycin (2,384.91 ± 100.7 ppm), narasin (144.15 ± 7.75 ppm) and fumonisins (0.87 to 4.09 ppm). Eight hospitalized horses were submitted to clinical therapy (gastric lavage and application of activated charcoal; fluid-electrolyte imbalance correction, intravenous dimethylsulfoxide, tocopherol and selenium supplementation). Four (50%) horses had permanent sequelae (muscle weakness and mild ataxia), two (25%) recovered without sequelae, and two (25%) were euthanized due to inability to stand and poor prognosis. Considering the total number of affected horses, mortality rate reached 59.25% (16/27).Discussion: Usually ionophores are safely used in livestock and bird production at the recommended doses. However, horses are among the most susceptible species and do not tolerate any exposure to the substance. The outbreaks herein occurred due accidental ionophore contamination of commercial ration at the industry probably by manufacturing process technical failures. Similarly, fumonisins contamination may be caused by feedstock inadequate storage at the industry, or improper ration storage in the farms. The suspicion of two concurrent diseases (IP and LEM) in the horses of these outbreaks was confirmed through the association of epidemiology, clinical signs, pathological findings and measurement of ionophores and fumonisins in the commercial ration. We reiterate the difficulty in diagnosing associated clinical syndromes, especially when high-lethality diseases are involved.

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Section: Discussionunclassified

Section: Introductionunclassified

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Intoxicação por antibióticos ionóforos e leucoencefalomalácia concomitantes pelo consumo de ração comercial contaminada em equinos

Machado

Andrade²,

Moraes³

et al. 2018

Acta Scientiae. Vet.

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“…Similar gross lesions can be observed in the neurological form of horse trypanosomiasis (RODRIGUES et al 2005); therefore, it also should be considered as a differential diagnosis. The history of corn feeding is a key epidemiological factor for the presumptive diagnosis; although, other foods, such as hay, oats, sweet feed and cereal mixtures from surplus crop, can also cause the disease (WILSON et al, 1990, VENDRUSCOLO et al, 2016. This case highlighted that immature corn, without evidence of mold, is an unusual source of fumonisins and can be associate with ELEM.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Leukoencephalomalacia in horses associated with immature corn consumption

et al. 2019

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Horse leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) is a disease caused by the ingestion of mycotoxins (fumonisins) produced by fungi of the genus Fusarium that infect corn and/or its byproducts. This disease has been described by ingestion of mature corn with humidity above 15% at temperatures below 20°C. The aim of this paper was to report an outbreak of leukoencephalomalacia in horses fed with immature corn. Two horses out of three showed neurological signs approximately seven days after eating immature corn in its reproductive phase (R2, milky grains). Corn was harvested and administered directly to the animals, with no storage. Deaths occurred approximately 24 hours after the onset of clinical signs. Grossly, there were multifocal dark red to brown areas in the white matter of the telencephalon and hyppocampus and thalamus. Histologically, there was edema and hemorrhage in several areas of the telencephalon white matter, which corresponded to dark red to brown areas observed in the macroscopy. There was also foci of malacia with presence of reactive astrocytes with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and inflammatory cells. Diffuse capillary wall degeneration and endothelial cell swelling were also observed. Two ppm of fumonisin were detected by immunoaffinity column method (VICAM) in the immature corn sample. The water activity in this cereal, when the grain is still milky, is 0.98 and can predispose it to growth of mycotoxin-producing fungi. In the present case, fumonisin was found in milky grains in the beginning of the reproductive phase (R2), which suggested that even immature corn may be infected by Fusarium spp. and should not be administered to horses.

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“…Neurological examinations reflect severe damage to the brain. The histopathological findings are characterised by liquefactive necrosis of cerebral white matter, multiple foci of haemorrhage and edema (Osweiler 2001, Vendruscolo et al 2016. ELEM occurs after feeding horses with feedstuffs contaminated with FBs.…”

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confidence: 99%