Bird mortality event associated with microcystins at Poplar Island, Maryland, USA
November 14, 2018More than 750 dead and dying birds were observed at the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island, Maryland, USA (Chesapeake Bay) in summer 2012. Avian botulism was suspected based on clinical signs. At the same time, a bloom of Microcystis was also ongoing in an impoundment on the island, and high levels…
Deoxynivalenol – nervous effects reconnaissance
August 1, 2018Data on neurotoxicological effects of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), also called vomitoxin, are limited. Orally exposed laboratory (mice, rats) and domestic animals (pig, chicken) show behavioural changes such as feed refusal, increased locomotor activity and aggressive behaviour, and DON plasma concentrations at ppm-level result in vomiting in pigs and humans. Preliminary observations suggest that DON…