Innovad® is proud to announce Myco-Marker™: an innovative animal-driven mycotoxin diagnostic and biomonitoring service that determines the true mycotoxin risk and exposure to animals and assesses the impact of mycotoxins on animal performance and health.

Myco-Marker™ is a patent pending diagnostic and biomonitoring tool that determines precisely possible exposure to mycotoxins and assesses their impact on animal performance and health. Myco-Marker™ allows detection and diagnosis of mycotoxin-mediated health and performance issues either in individual animals or in a population, aiding thus, identification of the causative mycotoxins and deploying appropriate mitigation strategies.

 

What does it consist of?

1. FEED ANALYSIS: Analytical EXAMINATION OF RISK in complex feed matrices and grains by monitoring 16 key mycotoxins in feedstuffs with high resolution LC-MS/MS technology.

2. BLOOD ANALYSIS: Analytical DETECTION OF 36 BIOMARKERS OF EXPOSURE IN BLOOD from dried blood spots with LC-MS/MS analytical tools.

3. IMPACT EVALUTION on ANIMAL PERFORMANCE & HEALTH: Interpretation of blood and feed RESULTS and differential animal diagnosis and biomonitoring support.

4. OPTIMISATION of the MITIGATION STRATEGY: Application of the appropriate mitigation strategy and dosing RECOMMENDATIONS.

5. BIOMONITORING PLAN: Upon initial evaluation Innovad® will help you implement the right biomonitoring plan for your needs.

RISE® to the  challenge of mycotoxins!

Myco-Marker™: Global Survey  - 1st year overview results

Working with producers and veterinarians  across the globe Innovad® has the pleasure to announce its first Global Survey – unique of its kind! The survey involved 680 blood samples and 126 feed samples from Asia, Europe, North America and LATAM region. It has also deciphered what once was considered a ‘black box’. And it has, for the very first time, identified the real level and the true nature of mycotoxin issues in farming production.

 Some remarkable observations were made after the introductory year of the Global Myco-Marker™ Survey:

  • The survey highlighted the importance of blood analysis: More than four (4) out of five (5) farm cases (85%)  would have been COMPLETELY missed without blood analysis
  • No farms were mycotoxin-risk free (as mycotoxins were detected in ALL cases)

 

 

Figure - An overview of: a) the relative abundance (%); b) distribution (number) of mycotoxins and, c) risk level according to a heatmap, of the introductory year Global Myco-Marker™ Survey.  

The survey involved 126 feed samples and 680 blood samples, sampled as Dried Blood spots (DBS). For example: Thirteen per cent (13%) of the tested farms had exposure to ≥8 mycotoxins, with a maximum of 15 mycotoxins detected in a single farm case.  

 

  • Co-exposure to multiple mycotoxins is the NORM – not the exception: animals from nearly ALL (98%) farms studied were exposed to two or more mycotoxins simultaneously.
  • More than half (~51%) of the studied farms faced moderate to high mycotoxin risk (R5 – R7):  Anything between 5 and 15 mycotoxins were detected simultaneously. 
  • Fifteen (15) was the highest number of mycotoxins detected in a single farm case.
  • The TRUE mycotoxin risk is omitted by targeting only the top 6 regulated mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, aflatoxins, fumonisins and zearalenone, ochratoxin A, T2 toxins); 82% of the cases would have been COMPLETELY missed if targeting the top six mycotoxins even when testing them both in feed and blood.
  • The importance of emerging mycotoxins:  emerging mycotoxins like enniatins and tenuazonic acid were the predominant mycotoxin of this survey.
  • Correlation between clinical symptoms and exposure to mycotoxins was observed in most of the cases. For example, 86% of poultry cases with necrotic enteritis had exposure to deoxynivalenol and fumonisins and 83% of swine cases with reproductive problems had exposure to zearalenone and Alternaria mycotoxins which are estrogenic.

 

The introductory Global Myco-Marker™ Survey demonstrated clearly the added-value of the combined feed and blood analysis that the Myco-Marker™ follows over the standard stand-alone feed analysis. Contact our mycotoxin expert to learn more about this unique new service!