Approaches for alleviating toxic effects of aflatoxin in lactating dairy cows and weanling pigs

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 28, 2011).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. James N. Spain, and Dr. David R. Ledoux.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.Aflatoxin (AF) is a mycotoxin found in feed ingredients used in livestock diets including dairy cattle and pigs. Aflatoxin causes reduced performance, liver damage, increased prevalence of infectious disease, and secretion of the metabolite aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) into milk. Aflatoxin M1 is toxic and carcinogenic, and is of great concern with respect to human health because of the high consumption of milk and milk products by humans, especially children. Due to the involvement of AF in disease and death in humans and animals, safe, practical and effective strategies for alleviating or preventing the toxic effects of AF are highly desirable. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to evaluate two approaches for reducing the toxic effects of dietary aflatoxin when fed to lactating dairy cows and weanling pigs.Includes bibliographical reference