Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
18.2.1 CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON BVP
• Increase in the susceptibility of animals to disease
• Increase in the range or abundance of vectors/animal reservoirs
• prolonging the transmission cycles of vectors
18.2.2 CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON MOULD
AND MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION
Mycotoxins are a group of highly toxic chemical substances that are pro-
duced by toxigenic molds that commonly grow on a number of crops.
These toxins can be produced before harvest in the standing crop and
many can increase, even dramatically, after harvest if the postharvest con-
ditions are favorable for further fungal growth. Human dietary exposure to
mycotoxins can be directly through consumption of contaminated crops.
Mycotoxins can also reach the human food supply through livestock that
have consumed contaminated feed. The problem of mycotoxin contamina-
tion of foods and the resulting public health impact is not new - it is likely
that mycotoxins have plagued mankind since the beginning of organized
crop production (FAO, 2001). At high doses mycotoxins produce acute
symptoms and deaths but, arguably, lower doses that produce no clinical
symptoms are more significant to public health due to the greater extent
of this level of exposure. Particular mycotoxins maypossess carcinogenic,
immunosuppressive, neurotoxic, estrogenic or teratogenic activity, some
more than one of these. Table 18.2 lists mycotoxins that are of world-wide
importance meaning that they have been demonstrated to have significant
impact on public health and animal productivity in a variety of countries.
There are several other mycotoxins that are considered to be of regional
significance (FAO, 2001).
TABLE 18.2
Moulds and Mycotoxins of World-Wide Importance
Mould Species
Mycotoxins Produced
Aspergillus parasiticus
Aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2
Aspergillus flavus
Aflatoxins B1, B2
Fusarium sporotrichioides
T-2 toxin
Fusarium graminearum
Deoxynivalenol (or nivalenol)
Zearalenone
Fusarium moniliforme (F. verticillioides)
Fumonisin B1
Penicillium verrucosum
Ochratoxin A
Aspergillums' ochraceus
Ochratoxin A
