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Lead poisoning
Introduction
- Cause: exposure to lead in paint, vehicle batteries, contaminated soil or plants and other sources.
- Signs: blindness, behavioral change, head pressing, sudden death.
- Diagnosis: blood lead concentration.
- Treatment: supportive care, removal from source and chelation therapy, if practical.
- Prognosis: poor in animals with neurological signs.
Geographic incidence
- May occur from anthropogenic sources but also in areas where lead has been mined or lead battery recycling occurs.
- Land use history may be important when investigating cases of possible lead poisoning.
Age predisposition
- Young animals.
Public health considerations
- May have food safety implications for meat and milk.
Cost considerations
- Chelation therapy and monitoring may be costly if multiple animals are affected.
- There may also be cost implications associated with management of food safety issues.
Special risks
- Pregnancy.
- Young age.
Pathogenesis
Etiology
- Cattle can be exposed to multiple sources of lead including the following:
- Old lead paint e.g. on buildings where the paint is deteriorating or recycled wood materials.
- Discarded lead batteries.
- Ash from burnt lead-containing materials.
- Lead foreign bodies e.g. lead shot, lead solder.
- Contaminated soils or plants in areas close to battery recycling plants or previously used for shooting (e.g. clay pigeon shooting) or mining.
Predisposing factors
General
- Previous exposure and therefore elevated lead body burden.
Specific
- Young age.
Pathophysiology
- Lead has no biological role.
- Lead has multiple biochemical effects.
- It interferes with many enzyme systems, particularly those containing sulfhydryl groups. This produces multiple effects including impaired haem synthesis and demyelination of peripheral nerves.
- Lead ions are similar in size to calcium ions and so can antagonize or mimic the biological action of calcium.
- The exact nature of the effect on the central nervous system is unknown, but probably involves interference with intracellular calcium function.
- Lead also alters vitamin D metabolism and affects cell membrane stability.
Timecourse
- Variable, clinical signs may occur a few days after exposure but can be insidious in onset.
- Sudden death may be the first reported clinical sign.
Epidemiology
- Cases of lead poisoning are common in the spring and summer following turnout into pasture.
Diagnosis
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Treatment
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Prevention
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Outcomes
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Further Reading
Publications
Refereed Papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Cowan V & Blakley B (2016) Acute lead poisoning in western Canadian cattle – A 16 year retrospective study of diagnostic case records. CN Vet J 57, 421-426 PubMed.
- Payne J & Livesey C (2010) Lead poisoning in cattle and sheep. In Pract 32, 64-69 VetMedResource.
- Sharpe R T & Livesey C T (2006) Lead poisoning in cattle and its implications for food safety. Vet Rec 159, 71-74 PubMed.
- Sharpe R & Livesey C (2004) Discarded lead-acid batteries: a preventable cause of lead poisoning in cattle. Vet Rec 154 (16), 512 PubMed.
- Rumbeiha W K, Braselton W E & Donch D (2001) A retrospective study on the disappearance of blood lead in cattle with accidental lead toxicosis. J Vet Diagn Invest 13 (5), 373-378 PubMed.
- Allen W M (1999) Environmental accidents: the assessment of the significance of an environmental accident due to the feeding of lead-contaminated feedstuffs to several hundred cattle farms. Bovine Practitioner 33, 76–79.
- Baars A J, van Beek H, Visser I J, Vos G, van Delft W, Fennema G, Lieben G W, Lautenbag K, Nieuwenhuijs J H, de Lezenne Coulander P A, Pluimers F H, Van d Haar G, Jorna T J, Tuinstra G M T, Zandstra P & Bruins B (1992) Lead intoxication in cattle: a case report. Food Add Contam 9 (4), 357-64.
Other sources of information
- Waine K, Busin V & Strugnell B (2019) Getting the Most out of On-Farm Post-Mortems: A Guide for Veterinary Surgeons. AHDB, UK. Website: https://ahdb.org.uk.
- Animalcare (2013) Sodium Calciumedetate 250mg/ml Concentrate for Solution for Injection Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC).
Organisation(s)
- Nicola Bates, Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS), London, UK.