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Abstract
The 1st field outbreak of vermeersiekte induced by Geigeria burkei Harv. subsp. burkei var. hirtella Merxm, is reported. It is also the first recorded outbreak of this disease in the arid sweet bushveld of the Northern Province of South Africa. The toxicosis was experimentally reproduced in a sheep following daily intraruminal administration of 2.5-5.0 g/kg dried, milled plant material for 18 consecutive days. Neither the sheep in the field outbreak nor the ewe in the experiment exhibited any signs of regurgitation of rumen contents (vermeersiekte). All developed only the stiff or paretic/paralytic forms of the disease. Serum activities of CK and GGT were slightly raised in clinically affected sheep (n = 11) during the field outbreak, and serum activities of AST, GLDH, GGT, LDH and CK increased in the ewe dosed with the plant material. Analysis of dried, milled Geigeria plant material confirms that this species is moderately nutritious.
Highlights
Vermeersiekte following ingestion of different Geigeria species is a major intoxication of small stock in South Africa
The incriminated plant was identified as Geigeria burkei Harv. subsp. burkei var. hirtella Merxm.[7,12] (Fig. 2) by the National Botanical Institute, Pretoria
A necropsy was performed on a sheep that was euthanased and samples of brain, lung, liver, spleen, kidney, heart and skeletal muscle including oesophagus were preserved in 10 % buffered formalin and submitted for histopathological examination
Summary
The economic loss could be considerably higher, as vermeersiekte is known to be an erosive disease that causes various production and reproducaDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa. Sheep in feeding experiments with G. ornativa hay ingested the plant for prolonged periods and clinical signs were noticed only after 3 weeks[6]. Before and during the trial, blood samples were collected twice a week from the jugular vein and submitted for determination of serum activities of glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), AST, GGT, CK and LDH.
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