This review attempts to trace the connection between the mycology of foodstuffs and the onset of disease due to the toxins that various fungi produce within those foodstuffs. The association of fungal activity with the occurrence of various disease syndromes in man and animals has only recently been recognised. Possibly this is because the epidemiology of mycotoxins involves more than one scientific discipline. and the collation of knowledge has inevitably been slow. Also the chronic long term effects of mycotoxin poisoning may have been obviated by better preventive measures in the developed countries; certainly it is the Third World countries which have contributed most to our understanding of this subject. Because of the relative remoteness of these areas from the main areas of research however, it has taken longer to collect sufficient data, especially that pertaining to the human situation
