Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog deaths from Microcystis bloom poisoning in the Netherlands
By Lürling, Miquel & Faassen, Elisabeth J·Published in Toxins·2013·Wageningen University, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Dog poisonings associated with a Microcystis aeruginosa bloom in the Netherlands.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Three dogs tragically died after being exposed to toxic algae while swimming in Lake Amstelmeer in the Netherlands. The algae, known as Microcystis aeruginosa, produced harmful substances called microcystins that can cause severe poisoning. One dog's vomit was found to contain high levels of these toxins, indicating they had ingested the contaminated water. This incident highlights the dangers of letting pets swim in water with visible algae blooms, especially during warm weather.
People also search for: dog death from algae poisoning · symptoms of microcystin poisoning in dogs · toxic algae lake safety for pets
Abstract
In early autumn 2011, three dogs died after they had been exposed to a Microcystis aeruginosa bloom on Lake Amstelmeer, The Netherlands. The cyanobacterial scum from the lake contained up to 5.27 × 103 μg g(-1) dry-weight microcystin, the vomit of one of the dogs contained on average 94 µg microcystin g(-1) dry-weight. In both cases, microcystin-LR was the most abundant variant. This is the first report of dog deaths associated with a Microcystis bloom and microcystin poisoning in The Netherlands.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23493170/