Tremorgenic mycotoxicosis caused by Paspalum paspaloides (Michx.) Scribner infected by Claviceps paspali: a case report

Abstract

A natural poisoning case caused by ingestion of Paspalum paspaloides (Michx.) Scribner infected by Claviceps paspali in a bovine herd in Huelva (Spain) is described. This kind of intoxication, frequently described in South Africa and America is rare in Europe and this is the first description in Spain. Clinical signs, which affected 23 calves out of a total of 130 animals, consisted in a nervous syndrome characterized by tremor, hyperexcitability, incoordination, ataxia, depression and paralysis, signs that were aggravated when animals were subjected to certain types of exercises. The most relevant lesions were detected in the brain and consisted in microhaemorrhages diffused through the parenchyma of the brain, neuronal degeneration, satellitosis, neuronophagia, gliosis, and moderate neuropil degeneration in the peripheral zones of the brain.