The 3^rd Annual Meeting of the Sporidesmin-Induced Liver Disease (SILD) Programme was held at FABI on 13 November. The programme, established in 2023 through a partnership between FABI and Milk South Africa (MilkSA), aims to improve understanding of Pseudopithomyces toxicarius, sporidesmin A biosynthesis, and the disease burden associated with facial eczema in dairy herds along the Eastern Cape coast.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Neriman Yilmaz, who provided an overview of progress across the programme. Her presentation included updates on fungal diversity surveys, toxin-gene investigations, and the development of diagnostic and culture-collection resources. She also summarised key outputs from Dr Claudette Dewing’s doctoral research, which formed the starting point of the SILD programme’s foundational data.

Dr Anthony Davis (Humansdorp Veterinary Clinic) presented recent observations on sporidesmin toxicity in dairy cattle, offering field-level detail on case frequency, clinical presentation, and regional patterns of disease.

Postgraduate students Ms. Jenna-Lee Price (PhD) and Ms Unathi Tshabalala (MSc) reported on their respective projects, including seasonal occurrence of P. toxicarius, biosynthetic gene cluster of Sporidesmin A, and chemotaxonomy of the genus. Ms. Price also presented the outcomes of Ms. Pearl Nkosi’s Honours project, which contributes to ongoing work on population genetics assessment.

The meeting allowed researchers, veterinarians and Milk SA representatives to review progress and discuss priorities for the coming year. The programme is steadily building an integrated research foundation for sporidesmin toxicity problem, linking field observations with laboratory studies to support improved management of the disease in South Africa.