Page 94 - Veterinary Toxicology, Basic and Clinical Principles, 3rd Edition

Epidemiology of Animal Poisonings in Asia Chapter | 4 61

VetBooks.ir excitotoxicity, etc., have also been reported in man as TABLE 4.1 Prevalence of Dental Fluorosis in Domestic
well as in domestic animals. Acute toxicity arises by inha-
Animals in Madhya Pradesh (India)
lation of fluorine smoke, vapors, dust from volcanic erup-
tions, and dust from industries that use aluminum, Cu,
Animals Number of Dental
enamel, glass, iron, steel, superphosphate, etc. It also may
Animals Fluorosis
be due to accidental ingestion of large amounts of fluorine
(Susan, 2016). Some Asian countries, such as India, Adult Animals
Pakistan and neighboring countries, have a very high Buffaloes (.1 year) 75 31 (41.34%)
prevalence of fluorosis. An epidemiological survey
Cows (.1 year) 25 10 (40.00%)
revealed the prevalence of fluorosis in bovines in Andhra
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (Dwivedi et al., 1997), Punjab Young Animals
(Sharma et al., 1997), Rajasthan (Choubisa, 1999), Buffalo (calves) 36 12 (36.12%)
Karnataka (Muralidhara et al., 2000), Orissa (Maiti et al., (,1 year)
2003), Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh in India (Ranjan et al., Cow (calves) 14 05 (36.72%)
2009; Choubisa et al., 2012). Most of the animals suffered (,1 year)
with problems after consumption of water from bore well
Source: Data from Narwaria, Y.S., Saksena, D.N., 2012. Incidence of
and pastures with high fluorine content (Botha et al., dental fluorosis in domestic animals of Shivepuri, Madhya Pradesh, India.
1993). Different surveys of bovine population in brick J. Environ. Res. Develop. 7: 426 430.
kiln areas showed signs of lameness having “knee pos-
ture,” reduced appetite, loss in general body condition,
loss of hair with stiff rough skin coat, poor performance, fluorosis were observed in 99 domesticated cattle (Bos
anemia, mottled teeth, enlarged mandible, painful pro- taurus) living in Chani village, in the Bikaner district of
tuberances of metacarpal, and facial bones were recorded. Rajasthan (India), located in the Indian Thar Desert.
On the basis of clinical and circumstantial evidence, and Affected animals with dental fluorosis also showed signs
presence of high fluoride content the problem was con- of skeletal fluorosis as intermittent lameness and snapping
firmed to be fluorosis, possibly due to environmental pol- sound in legs, wasting of body muscles, and excessive
lution with fluorine-bearing smoke arising from the large periosteal exostoses in the mandibles, ribs, metacarpus,
number of brick kilns (Swarup and Singh, 1989; Singh and metatarsus regions. In these animals, colic, intermit-
and Swarup, 1994). There was decrease in milk yield in tent diarrhea, excessive urination, irregular reproductive
buffaloes and in cattle (Jagadish et al., 1998). In several cycles, repeated abortions, and stillbirths were also found
northern parts of India such as Bihar and Rajasthan, den- as signs of nonskeletal fluorosis (Choubisa et al., 2011;
tal mottling, lameness, higher respiration and heart rates, Choubisa et al., 2014).
anemia, reproductive disorders (prolonged postpartum
anestrus) and increased incidence of vaginal prolapse,
cases of repeat breeding due to fluorosis in cattle has DRUGS AND RELATED COMPOUNDS
come to lime light (Sharma et al., 1997; Patra et al.,
2000; Swarup et al., 2001). A few other surveys of fluo- As indicated earlier, animals are exposed to potentially
ride in drinking water and incidence of dental fluorosis in toxic agents on a daily basis. Drug poisonings in animals
cows and buffaloes in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of occur commonly due to off-label use of medicines, wrong
India revealed high level of fluoride concentration in dosage, negligence, accidental ingestion, and deliberate
adult buffaloes (Ranjan et al., 2009). About 40% of adult poisonings. Toxicity of veterinary drugs may become evi-
and 36% of young cattle were found to have dental fluo- dent also in therapeutic doses when adverse effects may
rosis (Table 4.1) with light-to-deep yellowish brown teeth, occur (Siroka and Svobodova, 2013).
with striated and horizontal lines starting from the base of Each year there are more than 100,000 cases of com-
teeth. Buffaloes have a greater severity of dental and skel- panion animals poisoning in the United States alone.
etal fluorosis than in cows. Young calves of both cow and Some of the most dangerous companion animal poisons
buffalo were more sensitive than the adult ones (Dwivedi are foods and therapeutic use medications we use on a
et al., 1997; Narwaria and Saksena, 2012). At a fluoride daily basis. Companion animals poisoning symptoms can
concentration of 4.0 ppm in water, 100% of calves, 65.6% include gastrointestinal and neurological problems, car-
of buffaloes, and 61.0% of cows were affected with dental diac and respiratory distress, coma, and even death. Some
fluorosis to some degree. Intermittent lameness was of the most common and harmful substances/medications
observed in animals above 7 years of age (Choubisa, that poison companion animals include: antiinflammatory
1998; Choubisa, 1999). Recently chronic toxic effects of and pain medications, over-the-counter medications (acet-
fluoride in the form of osteo-dental and nonskeletal aminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, herbal, and nutraceutical