Abstract
Veterinary diets are intended for diseased animals and may contain cereal grains, mainly maize and/or wheat. These, in turn, are often infected with pathogens of the Fusarium genus, which are able to produce numerous harmful mycotoxins. Forty-two samples of veterinary diets for dogs and cats were analyzed for the presence of Fusarium species and mycotoxins. Species were identified using molecular methods and the ergosterol and mycotoxins (fumonisin B1, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol and zearalenone) were quantified using HPLC methods. Two Fusarium species were identified: Fusarium proliferatum and Fusarium verticillioides. The highest concentrations of fumonisin B1, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol and zearalenone were 74.83, 2318.05, 190.90, and 45.84 ng/g, respectively. Only 9.5% of the samples were free from Fusarium mycotoxins. The acceptable limits of mycotoxin content in animal feed, specified by the EU regulations, were not exceeded in any of the samples tested. The mean mycotoxin content in veterinary diets for cats was lower than for dogs. Thus, it is recommended that veterinary diets are examined, since the mycotoxin contamination pose additional risk to animal health. The knowledge on Fusarium occurrence in veterinary diets is scarce and as far as we are aware this is the first report concerning the occurrence of Fusarium spp. and their important secondary metabolites—mycotoxins—in different types of veterinary diets for companion animals in Poland.
Highlights
Veterinary diets are being designed and used in the course of treatment or help in treating animals with particular disease
All categories of diets were contaminated with mycotoxin producers—F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides, there were three categories contaminated with higher frequencies than the others: for obesity management, excretory and digestive system diseases (Table 1)
Veterinary diets are applied for shorter periods of time but the treated animals are weakened and can be more sensitive to mycotoxins’ influence
Summary
Veterinary diets are being designed and used in the course of treatment or help in treating animals with particular disease. According to the descriptions given on labels, veterinary diets often contain cereals, usually maize, wheat and/or rice, to the regular dog and cat food. Wheat, and maize are the most important cereals worldwide, which grown in temperate, humid climate (wheat), and temperate, tropical and sub-tropical climate (maize). These climatic conditions are optimal for development of the most damaging cereal pathogens—Fusarium fungi. Most species grow in temperatures around 25–35 ◦C and high humidity [3,4,5] These fungi cause huge losses in cereal crops every year. Zearalenone binds to the estrogen receptors causing changes in genes expression, resulting in disturbing of functioning of the reproductive system and fertility [1,17]
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