2000 Volume 53 Issue 4 Pages 215-217
Epidemiological investigations were carried out on coumarin poisoning of wildbirds in an apple farm in the city of Morioka, Japan, in March 1999. Numerous apples polluted by a bluechemical compound were found scattered on the ground together with about 50 bird carcasses. Necropsy showedhemorrhagic spots on the skin, skeletal muscles, and frontal bones and thoracic cavities filled withhypo-coagulative clots. Hyperemia of the conjunctiva and food-caused dilation and atony of the upper digestive tractwere recorded. Histopathological studies demonstrated hemorrhagic changes in the lungs, the glandularstomach, and the choroid. Systemic congestion was observed in all of the 8 cases examined. High-performance liquidchromatography performed on an affected apple, bird livers, kidneys, and gastric contents showed from 0.2to 10.9 ppm of coumatetralyl in each sample. This is the first report in Japan of coumarin poisoning of wild birds with sufficient concentration for its toxicity.
