A field case of pig poisoning by accidental feed contamination by alkaloid-rich lupin seeds

This paper describes a field case of pig poisoning due to accidental contamination by alkaloid-rich lupin seeds of the grain legume mixtures used as protein sources in the feeds. The accident happened in Northern Italy in 2016, involved several farms and affected 2170 pigs of different categories (pregnant or lactating sows, gilts and fattening pigs). The observed clinical symptomatology was spanning from partial or total feed rejection to depression, recumbency, hypersalivation, vomiting and eventually death by necropsy by torsion of the stomach and gastro-enteric bloat. In feed formulations, the quinolizidine alkaloids (QAs), quantified by a GC-MS method, spanned from 0.051 to 1.245 mg/g. There was a relationship between the QAs content and the severity of clinical symptomatology: at a higher concentration, the outcomes were a larger incidence of clinically affected individuals (up to 50%) and a more severe clinical picture with mortality (up to 20%), which involved especially lactating sows.