ORIGINAL PAPER
Fertility of sows exposed to zearalenone and deoxynivalenol—
a case report
A. Gutzwiller&J.-L. Gafner
Received: 3 October 2008 / Revised: 17 November 2008 / Accepted: 19 November 2008 / Published online: 16 December 2008
#Society for Mycotoxin Research and Springer 2008
Abstract In a commercial breeding herd of 140 sows, the introduction of a lot of ensiled corn cob mix (CCM) contaminated with 6–11 mg deoxynivalenol and 3–5 mg zearalenone per kg dry matter (DM) into the ration of the pregnant sows and of the gilts immediately decreased its palatability. The contaminated CCM in the ration was reduced from 60% to 40% in the DM after 1 month and was completely eliminated after a further 2.5 months. The reproductive performance data of the herd during the 5 months after the introduction of the contaminated CCM (e.g. 88%
non-return rate, 10.2 weaned piglets per litter, no abortion, no pseudopregnancy) were similar to the data obtained for the same period of the previous year. The high mycotoxin exposure thus had no obvious negative effects on fertility.
Keywords Zearalenone . Deoxynivalenol . Fertility . Pig
Introduction
Among domestic animals, pigs are most susceptible to the effects of both deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone.
There is some controversy concerning the safe level of these two mycotoxins in sow diets. The experiments reviewed by Diekman and Green (1992) as well as by Eriksen and Pettersson (2004) indicate that diets containing up to 4 mg/kg DON or 2 mg/kg zearalenone do not affect reproduction in sexually mature pigs, but there are reports that lower DON and zearalenone exposure may have negative effects on fertility (e.g. Côté et al.1984; Jadamus
and Schneider2002). Many veterinary practitioners and pig breeders suspect that under field conditions fertility prob- lems may occur at exposure levels which have caused no harm under experimental conditions. A well-documented field case of the accidental intake of both DON and zearalenone by a large number of breeding gilts and sows may contribute to the knowledge of the effects of a combination of these two mycotoxins on fertility.
Case report
During the period of mycotoxin exposure, 110 sows and 30 pregnant gilts of the Swiss Large White breed were kept on the farm. The young gilts as well as the pregnant gilts and sows received a ration consisting of 60% of ensiled corn cob mix (CCM) and 40% of a compound feed, expressed on a dry matter (DM) basis. During lactation the ration consisted of a commercially available compound feed without CCM. The total daily feed allowance of the rations containing CCM was 1.8 kg DM for the young gilts and 2.1 kg DM for the pregnant gilts and sows. Each month about 25 gilts and sows were either artificially inseminated or mated by boars which received a compound feed exclusively.
By mid-November 2006, CCM harvested in 2005 was finished, and the farmer began to feed CCM harvested in 2006. Within a few days he noticed that the ration containing CCM, which was distributed in the morning, was slowly eaten during the course of the day, whereas before the ration had been eaten up by noon. The mycotoxin contamination of the two CCM samples ana- lysed in December (Table 1) confirmed the suspicion that the reduced appetite was caused by DON. The analysed mycotoxin content of two CCM samples obtained in Mycotox Res (2009) 25:21–24
DOI 10.1007/s12550-008-0003-x
A. Gutzwiller (*)
:
J.-L. GafnerAgroscope Liebefeld-Posieux Research Station ALP, 1725 Posieux, Switzerland
e-mail: andreas.gutzwiller@alp.admin.ch
