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. 2007 Apr;73(8):2762-4.
doi: 10.1128/AEM.02370-06. Epub 2007 Feb 16.

Outbreak of an acute aflatoxicosis in Kenya in 2004: identification of the causal agent

Claudia Probst  1 , Henry Njapau, Peter J Cotty
Affiliations

Outbreak of an acute aflatoxicosis in Kenya in 2004: identification of the causal agent

Claudia Probst et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2007 Apr.

Abstract

Maize contaminated with aflatoxins has been implicated in deadly epidemics in Kenya three times since 1981, but the fungi contaminating the maize with aflatoxins have not been characterized. Here we associate the S strain of Aspergillus flavus with lethal aflatoxicoses that took more than 125 lives in 2004.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Incidence of the S strain of Aspergillus flavus increased with aflatoxin content in maize samples collected in Kenya during 2004. Samples from each of three districts were sorted into five groups by aflatoxin content (▪ = Makueni district; ▴ = Machakos district; • = Kitui district). Significance of relationships and coefficients of determination are given in Table 1.
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