Mycoflora of the toxic feeds associated with equine leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) outbreaks in Brazil.

The mycoflora of 39 feed samples associated with 29 Equine Leukoencephalomalacia (ELEM) outbreaks was studied from 1988 to 1990, in Brazil. Microbiological examination indicated Fusarium spp. as the most frequent mold which occurred in 97.4% of samples followed by Penicillium spp. in 61.5% and Aspergillus spp. in 35.9%. The moisture content of feed implicated in death of horses was above 15% which can favor the development of Fusarium spp. From the genus, F. moniliforme was the predominant species with an occurrence of 82.0%. Two additional species, not commonly associated with animal toxicosis, were isolated in low frequency, F. proliferatum (12.8%) and F. subglutinans (2.6%). It is important to emphasize that the isolation of F. proliferatum and F. subglutinans from feed obtained from the epizootic areas has not been documented previously in Brazil.