Synonyms

No known synonym

Name of the disease in English

Metaldehyde poisoning

The disease in brief

Metaldehyde is the molluscicide feared for the toxic risk for hedgehogs, carnivores but also for cattle, which comes in the form of blue granules. It has also been used as fuel for camping stoves.

Clinic & diagnosis

This poisoning can be suspected when a call is made for cattle that are drooling or showing nervous signs; it is by observing the sudden appearance, in the pasture, of a combination of varied symptoms that we suspect the disease which can quickly be fatal:

-Nervous signs: An agitated or restless bovine, with tremors, or myoclonus, or exaggerated reactions to stimulation, or convulsions or opisthotonos.

-Locomotor signs : He staggers, staggers, or is ataxic to the point of falling.

-On the head, we note that he is drooling or has difficulty swallowing

Typical sign of the disease

No description

Pictures

See below

Diagnostic formulas

No description

Differential diagnosis

–

-Rage NV18.1

- TX4 lead poisoning

-Bacterial meningoencephalitis NV13.1

-Hypomagnesemia NV14.2

-Ketosis, nerve form NV14

-Necrosis of the cerebral cortex NV20

-Tetanus NV19

-NV1 brain abscess

Confirm a suspicion?

This is a field investigation that allows the suspicion of poisoning to be confirmed on site. Poisoning is confirmed during an autopsy by taking a sample of the rumen contents (freezable), to carry out a dosage in a specialized laboratory (modified cost <50€)

Prognosis and treatment

The treatment is difficult and often disappointing:

-Reduce nervous signs with an anesthetic such as xylazine or thiopental

-An infusion to force the elimination of the toxin:

Prevention

Limit the use of metaldehyde-based helicides on livestock farms.

References

Clinical toxicology of ruminants Pouliquen Hervé, Edition du Point veterinaire-2004-374p