Diagnosis and treatment of copper poisoning caused by accidental feeding on poultry litter in a sheep flock

Abstract

We report a case of chronic copper poisoning in a flock of 182 grazing dairy sheep in Thessaly, Central Greece. Five ewes were found dead during the course of a week. The diagnosis of copper poisoning was confirmed by necropsy examination, blood test results, and abnormally high copper levels in liver and kidney samples. A field investigation revealed the source of copper as a litter heap from a broiler farm to which the sheep had accidental access during their movement between the milking parlour and the grazing area. Access to the litter was subsequently blocked and all sheep were provided with 50 g of a salt/gypsum/sodium molybdate mixture (90.0: 9.8: 0.2, w/w) mixed in 500 g of concentrate feed daily, for a period of 5 weeks. Follow-up blood samples were taken 3 and 8 wk after the initial diagnosis. A reduction in aspartate aminotransferase activity indicated the source of copper had been eliminated and the subsequent treatment was successful.

Toxic Wasting Disorders in Sheep

“…Sheep with high blood Cu may be treated with intravenous ammonium tetramolybdate to decrease the Cu:Mb ratio. Furthermore, including Mb salts to the concentrate ration may help to prevent new cases and decrease mortality in the flock [6,10,12]. Recently, it has been proposed that dietary zinc (Zn) supplementation at 300 mg/kg dry matter may prevent accumulation of Cu in the liver of sheep exposed to high concentrations of this element [11].…”

Selenium, copper and iron in veterinary medicine—From clinical implications to scientific models

“…That occurs occasionally if the owner feed concentrates or mineral supplements designed for other species (e.g. cattle/horses) [51], failures in concentrates produced commercially (own unpublished data), industrial pollution [52], unintended uptake to fungicides [53] or by feeding roughage form pastures fertilised with pig [54] or poultry [55,56] manure. The long subclinical period of chronic Cu poisoning in sheep is characterised by a strong increase of the liver Cu concentration, followed by a remarkably long period of high liver Cu even when the source of Cu was removed [57].…”

The Importance of Copper, Molybdenum and Sulphur in Sheep Feeding

“…Dentre as fontes para intoxicação por cobre em ovinos, destacam-se: concentrados para cavalos, bovinos ou suínos; soluções químicas para prevenção da deficiência de cobre; pedilúvios contendo sulfato de cobre; pulverização de áreas pastejadas por ovinos com pesticidas e fungicidas contendo cobre em sua formulação; poluição de rios e riachos com resíduos industriais de cobre; e cama de frango utilizada como fertilizante de pastagens ou mesmo na alimentação dos animais (CHRISTODOULOPOULOS; ROUBIES, 2007). Portanto, é primordial fornecer aos animais concentrados adequados para a espécie ovina com limite de 10 ppm de Cu; evitar a suplementação de cobre para animais que recebam concentrado na dieta; fornecer suplemento mineral para animais a pasto contendo até 0,4% de sulfato de cobre (CASTRO et al, 2007).…”