notes pathogen Ergot 1 pathogen_name Claviceps purpurea 2 type Fungus 1 family Claviceps (Genus), mycotoxins 1, 8 disease_name Ergot Poisoning 1 alternate names St. Anthony's Fire, Holy Fire, Internal Fire 3 alternate names Ergtismus Gangraenosus, Ergotismus convulsivus 1 primary host grasses, cereals, rye, contaminated rye flour, colonizes ovary, produces spores, exuded in honeydew (syrup-like liquid) 2 R0 couldn't find for humans, 10 to 80% annually in crop damage in India, 10-25% annually in Zimbabwe 7 transmission ingestion 1 life-cycle hosts insects to spread (can be spread by wind, too) 2 parallel hosts humans and animals 1 incidence extremely rare today because of grain harvesting and milling procedures 4 prevalence 0, 180 in Ethiopia 1977-78 last known case 5 symptoms peripheral vasoconstriction of extremities, burning sensation in limbs, affects circulation and neurotransmission, can cause hallucinations, delusions, insanity, convulsions, necrosis of limbs, death, uterine contractions, nausea, seizures, and unconciousness. 1, 3, 6, 8 first existed 1100 BC in Chinese writings, 1900-1700 Mesopotamian magic spell 6 first recognized 1670 French Physician Dr. Thuillier noticed corrolation of rye bread intake with sickness, 1764, recognized as a fungus first by Baron von Munchausen 1, 10 preventable? \fungicides applied at flowering immunity? not in humans and other animals,host plants do not die, but yeild less crop. 7 treatable? vasodilators, anticoagulants and low molecular weight dextrans, sedation for hallucenations, diazepam for convulsions 8 disease generation time 20 to 40 days to grow inside the susceptable plant's ovary 2 case mortality 0.1 to 0.3 % cereals infected in U.S., last known case in Ethiopia in 1977-78 had a 34% mortality rate, 10 - 20 % rate in 1840's 9 morbidity 1 to 2 months of symptoms 8 economic impact \rarely of economic importance \ it is difficult to assess the importance in the U.S. Brazil $3 million, Australia $4 million. one cool thing LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)was first synthesized from Ergot by Dr. Albert Hoffman, also may have played a part in the Salem Witch Trials. 3 source 1 www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi!tool=pubmed source 2 www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/docs/pdf/Ergotmanual2.pdf source 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot source 4 http://elkhorn.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1513/build/#ergot source 5 http://whqlibdoc.who.int/bulletin/1999/Vol77-No9/bulletin_1999_77(9)_754-766.pdf source 6 www.answers.com/topic/ergot source 7 http://nimss.umd.edu/homepages/home.cfm?trackID=1494 source 8 www.itg.be/itg/DistanceLearning/LectureNotesVandenEndenE/48_Mycotoxinsp2.htm source 9 www.fkog.uu.se/course/essays/secale_cornutum.pdf source 10 http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/LECT12.HTM