Arsenic poisonig of cattle with perforation of the abomasum and the abdominal wall

Abstract

A disease in a herd of cattle is described which caused the death of about 90 animals in the State of Paraná, Brazil. The most striking symptoms were swelling of the umbilical region (Figs. 2 and 3), perforation of the abdominal wall and prolapsus of the abomasum (Fig. 1). Post-mortem examinations revealed extensive senequiae between the abomasum and the abdominal wall and the presence of a pouch which resulted from a large ulcer in the ventral portion of the abomasum (Fig. 4). The pouch wall consisted only of fibrous connective tissue and abdominal skin. Chemical analyses for arsenic in necrotic material collected from the bottom of the deep ulcer in the abomasum of one of the animals, were strongly positive. Arsenic was also found in liver and hair of this animal, and also in hair of other cattle which had symptoms of the disease (Table 1). Activation analyses of hair samples of two diseased animals revealed an arsenic content of about 25 times as high as found in the hair of a control animal (Table 2). By time findings and by the fact that arsenic was found in mineral supplements given to the cattle, it was concluded that time disease was caused by subacute arsenic poisoning. Similar observations were made in another herd of cattle in the State of Rio da Janeiro (Figs. 5 to 7). The arsenic content found in a hair sample of one of these animals by activation analysis, was also relatively high (Table 3), which indicates that arsenic poisoning also there was involved.