Page 392 - The Veterinary Laboratory and Field Manual 3rd Edition
P. 392

Clinical chemistry  361


                Corrosive toxicants which have been ingested   poison: illegal poisoning and lead intoxication are
                may leave evidence of burning, erosions or ulcer-  the main factors affecting avian scavenger sur-
                ative damage in the upper digestive tract. Some   vival in the Pyrenees (France). Ecotoxicology and
                                                           Environmental Safety 118: 71–82.
                clinical signs may be suggestive of a specific   Booth, N.H., McDonald, L.F. (1982) Veterinary
                toxin, for example, vomiting in goats following   Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The Iowa State
                ingestion of rhododendron plants. The clinical   University Press, Ames, IA.
                history often provides the most valuable infor-  Botha  C.J.,  Coetser  H.,  Labuschagne  L.,  Basson  A.
                mation in working out toxicology cases and   (2015) Confirmed organophosphorus and car-
                can give some indication of the nature of the   bamate pesticide poisonings in South African
                                                           wildlife (2009–2014). Journal of the South African
                suspect toxin, for example, sudden death in a   Veterinary Association 86(1): 1–4.
                group of animals grazing near a group of yew   Burcham G.N.,  Becker K.J.,  Tahara J.M.,  Wilson
                trees. If there are yew tree leaves in the digestive   C.R.,  Hooser S.B. (2012) Myocardial fibrosis
                tract, leaves which are highly toxic at low doses,   associated with previous ingestion of yew (Taxus
                it is possible to confirm the cause of death at   sp.) in a Holstein heifer: evidence for chronic yew
                the time of post-mortem. However, most toxic   toxicity in cattle. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic
                                                           Investigation 25: 147–152.
                plants are only toxic when ingested over a pro-  Cheesbrough, M.C. (2005) Medical Laboratory
                longed period, or are seasonal problems. Then   Manual for Tropical Countries. Volumes I and II.
                the pathology seen at post-mortem occur weeks   Butterworths, London.
                after the poisonous plants have been consumed.  Christensen, D.E. (1996) Veterinary Medical
                                                           Terminology. W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA.
                  Absence of proof is not proof of absence when it   Colburn, T., and Clement, C. (eds) (1992) Chemically
                comes to toxicity. Other diagnostic strategies help   Induced Alterations in Sexual and Functional
                to build evidence of a toxic cause in unexplained   Development: The Wildlife Human Connection.
                deaths. If more than one species, or different age   Princton Scientific Publishing Co., Princeton, NJ.
                groups within one species are affected in the same   Eason, C.T., Murphy, E.C., Wright, G.R., Spurr, E.B.
                time-frame, and around the same area, it provides   (2002) Assessment of risks of brodifacoum to
                a strong case to look for a toxic cause. At this   non-target birds and mammals in New Zealand.
                                                           Ecotoxicology 11: 35–48.
                point, the thoroughness of the history gathered   Evans, G. (1996) Animal Clinical Chemistry – A
                by the investigator will determine the likelihood   Primer for Toxicologists. Taylor & Francis, London.
                of identifying the source of the problem.  Fisher I.J., Pain D.J., Thomas, V.G. (2006) A review
                                                           of lead poisoning from ammunition sources in
                                                           terrestrial birds. Biological Conservation 131(3):
                                                           421–432.
                Endnotes                                 Fraser, C.M. (1991) The Merck Veterinary Manual.
                                                           A Handbook of Diagnosis, Therapy, and Disease
                1  Other standards can be used but these should pref-  Prevention and Control for the Veterinarian. Merck
                  erably be within a range 16 +/–4 g/dl.   & Co Inc., New Jersey.
                                                         Henderson, K.L., Coates, J.R. (eds) (2009) Veterinary
                                                           Pharmaceuticals in the Environment. American
                                                           Chemical Society. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
                references                               Jones, A. (2001) Monensin toxicosis in 2 sheep
                                                           flocks.  The Canadian Veterinary Journal  42(2):
                Anon (1978) Manual of Veterinary Investigation.   135–136.
                  Laboratory Techniques Volumes 1 and 2. Reference   Jubb, K.V.F., Kennedy, P.C., Palmer, N. (1992) Pathology
                  Books Published by The Ministry of Agriculture,   of Domestic Animals: Volumes 1 and 2. Academic
                  Fisheries and Food. HMSO, London.        Press, New York.
                Berny P., Vilagines L., Cugnasse J.M., Mastain O.,   Kart A., Bilgili, A. (2008) Ionophore antibiotics: toxicity,
                  Chollet J.Y., Joncour G., Razin M. (2015) Vigilance   mode of action and neurotoxic aspect of carboxylic







       Vet Lab.indb   361                                                                  26/03/2019   10:26
   387   388   389   390   391   392   393   394   395   396   397