[Search for lesions caused by aflatoxin B1 poisoning in 3 industrial chicken farms on the Ivory Coast]. / Recherche dans trois élevages industriels de poules en Côte-d'Ivoire des lésions de l'intoxication par l'aflatoxine B1.

A systematic search for feed contamination by aflatoxin-B1 as well as for lesions indicating an acute or chronic aflatoxicosis was made in three groups of industrially raised hens in Côte-d'Ivoire. The contamination rates were low although they were 6 to 10 times higher than the official standards. No lesion due to an acute or chronic intoxication by aflatoxins was observed. However, the repeated intake of small amounts of aflatoxins might eventually have repercussions on the technics-economical performance either by a direct action of the toxin or via the development of an immune depression in the animals.

[Not Available]. / Un cas d'infecondite chez les faisans description - reproduction - etiologie.

In the year 1976, during the reproductive season, a severe problem occurred on a pheasant farm. Eggs were infertile and male pheasants developed an atrophy of the testes with a more or less complete aplasia of the seminiferous tissue. The outstanding feature was the severe lesions in the male genital organs and absence of changes in the female. Initial inquiries did not provide a satisfactory explanation for this observation but led us to suspect the toxic action of Zearalenone and its derivatives. Injecting sexually active male pheasants with dihydrogenated Zearalenone reproduced the lesions in the testes. It therefore seems reasonable to suggest that the problem seen in 1976 was caused by contamination of the feed with Zearalenone. Pheasants react to this compound in the same way as geese, turkeys and hens.