Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog died from liver toxin nodularin in South Africa lake
By Harding, W R et al.·Published in Journal of the South African Veterinary Association·1995·City Engineer's Department·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Death of a dog attributed to the cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) hepatotoxin nodularin in South Africa.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A bull terrier tragically died after drinking water from a lake in South Africa that was contaminated with toxic blue-green algae. The algae contained a harmful substance called nodularin, which caused severe liver damage. Symptoms of poisoning were observed, and tests confirmed the presence of this toxin in the water. Unfortunately, the dog did not survive due to the effects of the toxin.
People also search for: dog death from algae poisoning · bull terrier liver damage symptoms · cyanobacterial poisoning in dogs
Abstract
A bull terrier died after drinking water at the margin of Zeekoevlei near Cape Town. At the time, Zeekoevlei, a hypertrophic coastal lake, contained a bloom of the cyanobacteria Nodularia spumigena and Microcystis aeruginosa. The circumstances of the incident, clinical signs of poisoning and histopathology, which mainly revealed extensive liver damage, were consistent with cyanobacterial poisoning. The cyanobacterial bloom material contained 3.47 micrograms mg-1 dry weight of the pentapeptide hepatotoxin nodularin. It is inferred that the dog died of cyanobacterial hepatotoxicosis due to the ingestion of nodularin.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8691419/