Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Hay contaminated with Datura plants caused colic in 18 horses
By Naudé, T W et al.·Published in Journal of the South African Veterinary Association·2005·Department of Paraclinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Datura contamination of hay as the suspected cause of an extensive outbreak of impaction colic in horses.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
Eighteen horses developed severe colic (abdominal pain) after eating dried tef hay contaminated with young Datura plants, which are toxic. The horses experienced repeated colic attacks due to blockages in their intestines. The problem was resolved by removing the contaminated hay from their diet. This incident highlights the risks of feeding hay that may be contaminated with toxic plants like Datura, which can cause serious health issues in horses.
People also search for: horse colic symptoms · Datura poisoning in horses · treating colic in horses · contaminated hay dangers for horses
Abstract
Datura poisoning of horses is extensively reviewed. An outbreak of intractable impaction colic affecting 18 of 83 horses was stopped by withdrawing dried tef hay contaminated with young Datura plants. The dried, botanically identified Datura stramonium and D. ferox contained respectively 0.15% mass/mass (m/m) hyoscyamine as well as 0.16% m/m hyoscine (scopolamine) and only hyoscine at a concentration of 0.11% m/m. Immature, unidentifiable plants resembling D. stramonium, contained 0.14% m/m and 0.12% m/m of the 2 respective tropane alkaloids. The outbreak was characterised by protracted and repeated colic attacks due to impaction of the large colon and/or caecum without any other anti-muscarinic signs. Comparative analyses of single specimens of dried seed of the 2 species collected from both fertilised and waste areas revealed that young South African Datura spp. had levels of tropane alkaloids comparable to those in the well-known toxic seed and were, consequently, equally toxic. The inherent danger of tef hay being contaminated with Datura is emphasised. To our knowledge this is the 1st field case of poisoning in horses ascribed to the vegetative parts of Datura spp.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16108531/