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Summary
This article describes a case of massive mortality among horses which was probably due to intoxication by pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Heliotropium indicum. Over 4 years more than 75% of a population of about 110 horses on a farm in Costa Rica died after showing nervous neurological symptoms. Two clinical manifestations were encountered, an acute and a chronic one, both with a fatal outcome. Pathological findings in 2 horses coincided with those reported in the literature for intoxication by pyrrolizidine alkaloids and were not specific for VEE. However Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) was the main differential diagnosis and could not completely be excluded because this disease was endemic in the region and VEE titres were found to be high. Taxonomic and toxicological investigations implicated Heliotropium indicum as the most probable principal cause of the intoxication.
Notes
Clinica de Especies Mayores, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional, Apdo. 86, CR‐3000 Heredia, Costa Rica. Present address of first author: Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
Correspondence to: P. Rene van Weeren, DVM, PhD, Dipl ECVS, Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, Yalelaan 12, 3584 CL Utrecht, the Netherlands. Phone: int‐31–30–2531350. Fax: int‐31–30–2537970. E‐mail: [email protected]
Cátedra de Patología, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Programa de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Cátedra de Toxicología. Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Cátedra de Taxonomía, Escuela de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.