Aflatoxicosis in feedlot cattle.

Aflatoxicosis was diagnosed in lightweight feedlot cattle fed aflatoxin-contaminated cottonseed or gin trash. Clinical signs of hepatic damage and death were recorded for more than 200 of the 14,000 animals in a feedlot. Aflatoxin concentration in feedlot products fed to these cattle ranged from 96 to 1,700 ng/g. Diagnosis was based on the correlation of characteristic microscopic liver lesions, high concentration of aflatoxin in cottonseed feed products, and isolation and detection of aflatoxin B1 and aflatoxin M1 in urine and liver from affected calves. This report describes a large-scale outbreak of aflatoxicosis and demonstrates the need for careful quality control of feed products susceptible to aflatoxin contamination.