How a University of Missouri researcher helped save dogs from poisoned pet food
David Sikes was working at a dog breeding facility in southern Missouri when he noticed something was very wrong. About a week before Christmas, several dogs were showing signs of liver disease. They were sick. Several had already died.
So he contacted his former professor at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, Tim Evans, head of the toxicology section there.
Evans studied a sample of the food the dogs had been eating and found high, potentially fatal levels of aflatoxin. He alerted state authorities.
That bit of research helped save the lives of potentially hundreds of pets. Soon, Midwestern Pet Foods Inc. recalled some of its Sportmix brand pet food last month. And this week, the company announced it was recalling much more.
”This was a good example of collaboration of practicing veterinarians, diagnostic labs and regulatory agencies,” Evans told The Star Wednesday.
He worked with the Missouri Department of Agriculture and Steve Strubberg, Missouri’s state veterinarian. Meanwhile, state agriculture departments in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington were also involved in work leading to the recall of the Evansville, Indiana, company’s pet food.
The FDA launched a formal investigation to identify all of the company’s products containing potentially fatal levels of aflatoxin, a fungal toxin that can be poisonous.
Aflatoxin can be produced by mold in grains, especially drought-stressed corn. Corn is a major ingredient in some Sportsmix products manufactured at their Oklahoma plant.
The recalled products now include Sportmix, Pro Pac Originals, Splash, Sportstrail and Nunn Better dry dog and cat foods, which Midwestern distributes nationally in retail stores and online. Retailers were instructed not to sell or donate the recalled products and to contact customers who had purchased the products, if possible.
The FDA is now aware of more than 70 dog deaths and 80 illnesses in multiple states, where animals ate the contaminated product. No illness has been reported in humans or cats, and there is no evidence that pet owners are at risk of poisoning, but the FDA has suggested that people wash their hands after handling their pet’s food.
“Although this pet food recall is still unfolding, we are sharing the facts we have so far because the levels of aflatoxin found in the recalled pet food are potentially fatal,” said Amber McCoig, a 2005 MU graduate who is deputy director for the Division of Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. “We are working quickly on this developing situation and will continue to update the public as new information becomes available.”
Signs of aflatoxin poisoning include sluggishness, loss of appetite, vomiting, jaundice (yellowish tint to the eyes, gums or skin due to liver damage) and/or diarrhea. If your pet has these symptoms, contact a veterinarian immediately. Take a picture of the pet food label, including the lot number.
