The toxicologic investigation of a feed grain contaminated with seeds of the plant species Cassia

Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843.

Feed grain suspected of causing death in a group of pigs was evaluated for toxic potential in chickens. The contaminated grain sorghum mixture was examined visually and contained 3.7% Cassia occidentalis and 1.6% Cassia obtusifolia seeds by weight. Thirty-two chicks were fed a sample of this suspect grain sorghum mixture. Chickens receiving the contaminated grain lost weight rapidly, exhibited clinical signs typical of intoxication with Cassia spp., and by day 16 were severely debilitated. Necropsy and histologic and electron microscopic examinations demonstrated a skeletal and cardiac degenerative myopathy consistent with intoxication by Cassia occidentalis. These toxicologic investigations verified the toxic potential of the contaminated sorghum mixture for chickens, and these comparative observations support prior diagnostic efforts implicating Cassia spp. as a cause of illness in swine.