Facial eczema in ovines intoxicated with Pithomyces chartarum in pasture of quicuio of Amazônia

Abstract

The occurence of facial eczema due to intoxication with Pithomyces chartarun in 12 hairy sheep in the flock of Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Trópico Úmido (CPATU) of Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) is described. These animals, maintained exclusively on Quicuio of Amazônia (Brachiaria humidicola) pasture, presented the symptoms of anorexia, depression, lacrimation, oedema of the eyelids, itching, followed by loss of hair in nasal region, around the eye and ear, necrosis and desquamation of the epidermis of the skin. Following the observation of the initial symptoms, the animals were withdrawn from the pasture and treated with detoxifving agents with total recovery. The conidia of the fungus Pithomyces chartarum (Berk & Curt) M.B. Ellis were identified in the pasture samples.