industry and the manufacture of pelleted feed which supported it, a
considerable effort was put into understanding the etiology of this major
outbreak of what was initially referred to as turkey X disease. Although
the name implies a disease such as a viral infection, it was shown that the
birds had been poisoned by a contaminant in the groundnut meal used as
a protein supplement in the pelleted feed. The contaminant, which was
called aflatoxin, fluoresces intensely under ultra-violet light and was
shown to be produced by the mouldAspergillus flavusgrowing on the
groundnuts.
Aflatoxin is not only acutely toxic but, for the rat, it is amongst the
most carcinogenic compounds known. The demonstration of the poten-
tial carcinogenicity of aflatoxin made it possible to rationalize the
etiology of diseases such as liver carcinoma in rainbow trout and
Figure 8.8 Toxic agarics
Chapter 8 283