DEATH OF A DOG ATTRIBUTED TO THE CYANOBACTERIAL (BLUE-GREEN-ALGAL) HEPATOTOXIN NODULARIN IN SOUTH-AFRICA

A bull terrier died after drinking water at the margin of Zeekoevlei n ear Cape Town. At the time, Zeekoevlei, a hypertrophic coastal lake, c ontained a bloom of the cyanobacteria Nodularia spumigena and Microcys tis aeruginosa. The circumstances of the incident, clinical signs of p oisoning and histopathology, which mainly revealed extensive liver dam age, were consistent with cyanobacterial poisoning. The cyanobacterial bloom material contained 3,47 mu g mg(-1) dry weight of the pentapept ide hepatotoxin nodularin. It is inferred that the dog died of cyanoba cterial hepatotoxicosis due to the ingestion of nodularin.