An Outbreak of Aflatoxicosis in Man

Abstract

There has been in recent years growing concern about the possible health hazards of mycotoxins. Under unsatisfactory conditions of food storage, particularly when environmental temperature and moisture are high, fungal contamination can easily occur. Several food commodities have been known to be attacked by a variety of storage fungi, and several of these fungi produce toxic metabolites. Among the more important of these is Aspergillus flavus- a fungus that produces a group of toxins collectively known as aflatoxins. Although the results of many studies clearly indicated that aflatoxin is hepatotoxic to farm animals and a number of experimental animals, its possible toxicity to man has largely been speculative.