Cyclopiazonic acid toxicosis in young turkeys: clinical, physiological, and serological observations

Abstract

Turkey poults acutely exposed to cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) at 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg body weight/day (bw/d) exhibited clinical symptoms, altered clinical pathology, and gross lesions. Clinical signs included lethargy, ataxia, drooped head and wings, ruffled feathers, regurgitation, marked anorexia, decreased amount of and unformed feces. Birds given 10 or 20 mg/kg bw/d had decreased total serum protein and albumin concentrations. Poults given 10 or 20 mg/kg bw/d had proventriculus and ventriculus focal erosions, a fibrinogelatinous membrane present in the ventriculus, and increased liver weights. Turkeys given 5 mg/kg bw/d appeared healthy, with no change in body weight gain, no gross lesions or altered clinical chemistry.

Keywords::

• Cyclopiazonic acid
• mycotoxicosis
• turkey poults
• weight loss
• pathology

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. W. M. Peden for technical assistance.

Declaration of interest

This work was supported by the National Animal Disease Center, Agriculture Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.