Visceral gout
Encyclopedia
Visceral gout is a disease of birds in which kidney failure causes a build-up or urates in the internal organs, leaving a chalky white coating on them. Symptoms include anorexia
and emaciation.
It is a problem common to caged birds. Vultures are particularly sensitivy to poisoning by diclofenac, which leads to renal failure, visceral gout and death to them.
population in India
and Pakistan
, to about a twentieth of their original numbers, has been caused by diclofenac
, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Diclofenac is given to working and ill farm cattle to reduce pain so that they can work on the land for longer. Farmers leave dead farm animals out in the open for the vultures to tidy up, and the vultures then feed from the carcasses of the cattle that die, and are poisoned by the diclofenac contained in the flesh they eat.
Vultures are now not present in large enough numbers to tidy up all the dead animals. Instead, dead animals are now likely to rot in the open and be partly eaten by rats or wild dogs or other pests, causing major concern and human health hazards including risks of rabies
.
Meloxicam
(another NSAID) has been found to be harmless to vultures and should prove an acceptable alternative to diclofenac. The Government of India has banned diclofenac, but it continues to be sold over a year later and is still a problem in other parts of the World.
Anorexia (symptom)
Anorexia is the decreased sensation of appetite...
and emaciation.
It is a problem common to caged birds. Vultures are particularly sensitivy to poisoning by diclofenac, which leads to renal failure, visceral gout and death to them.
Threat to vultures
The collapse of the vultureVulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
population in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, to about a twentieth of their original numbers, has been caused by diclofenac
Diclofenac
Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug taken to reduce inflammation and as an analgesic reducing pain in certain conditions....
, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Diclofenac is given to working and ill farm cattle to reduce pain so that they can work on the land for longer. Farmers leave dead farm animals out in the open for the vultures to tidy up, and the vultures then feed from the carcasses of the cattle that die, and are poisoned by the diclofenac contained in the flesh they eat.
Vultures are now not present in large enough numbers to tidy up all the dead animals. Instead, dead animals are now likely to rot in the open and be partly eaten by rats or wild dogs or other pests, causing major concern and human health hazards including risks of rabies
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
.
Meloxicam
Meloxicam
Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with analgesic and fever reducer effects. It is a derivative of oxicam, closely related to piroxicam, and falls in the enolic acid group of NSAIDs...
(another NSAID) has been found to be harmless to vultures and should prove an acceptable alternative to diclofenac. The Government of India has banned diclofenac, but it continues to be sold over a year later and is still a problem in other parts of the World.