What does blind staggers mean?
Blind staggers, symptom of several unrelated animal diseases, in which the affected animal walks with an unsteady, staggering gait and seems to be blind.
What parasite causes blind staggers disease in sheep?
Taenia (Multiceps) multiceps has a wide distribution in temperate areas, where it usually circulates in a cycle between dogs and herbivorous mammals, including sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. Coenuri infect the brain and spinal cord of the intermediate host and cause a disease of sheep known as gid or staggers.
What causes blind staggers in horses?
Consumption of endophyte-infected ryegrass can cause blind staggers in horses. Blind staggers manifests as trembling and stumbling in the horse. Horses improve rapidly when taken off the contaminated feed.
What is blind staggers in cattle?
“Blind staggers” occurs when animals ingest water-soluble selenium compounds naturally found in accumulator plants. Toxicity from eating plants or grain with protein-bound, insoluble selenium is called “alkali disease.” Blind staggers normally occurs in cattle and sheep feeding on seleniferous plants.
What is alkali disease?
Alkali Disease. This is a more chronic disease associated with lower level and longer duration intake of selenium. It’s characterized by emaciation, loss of hair, deformation and shedding of hooves, loss of vitality and erosion of the joints of long bones.
Can selenium cause blindness?
Severe overdose of selenium can lead to death. In these severe cases, the signs of overdose may include a staggering gait, blindness, labored breathing, respiratory failure, collapse, and muscle tremors.
What are the signs of selenium toxicity?
Selenium toxicity can occur with acute or chronic ingestion of excess selenium. Symptoms of selenium toxicity include nausea; vomiting; nail discoloration, brittleness, and loss; hair loss; fatigue; irritability; and foul breath odor (often described as “garlic breath”). Selenium is found in the environment in soil.
What are symptoms of selenium toxicity?
Selenium toxicity can occur with acute or chronic ingestion of excess selenium. Symptoms of selenium toxicity include nausea; vomiting; nail discoloration, brittleness, and loss; hair loss; fatigue; irritability; and foul breath odor (often described as “garlic breath”).
What happens when you ingest too much zinc?
Signs of too much zinc include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and headaches. When people take too much zinc for a long time, they sometimes have problems such as low copper levels, lower immunity, and low levels of HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol).
How do you check your selenium level?
Diagnosing selenium deficiency can be done with a blood test, which indicated recent selenium intake. Hair or nail samples can also be taken which gives a better indication of long-term selenium status.
What foods are selenium found in?
Selenium and Healthful Diets
- Many whole grains and dairy products, including milk and yogurt, are good sources of selenium.
- Pork, beef, turkey, chicken, fish, shellfish, and eggs contain high amounts of selenium.
What is the medical definition of blind stagger?
Medical Definition of blind staggers : a severe form of selenosis characterized especially by impairment of vision, an unsteady gait, and a tendency of the affected animal to stand with the forehead pressing against an immovable obstacle also : a similar condition not caused by selenium poisoning Learn More About blind staggers
What kind of disease causes horses to stagger?
blind staggers – a disease of the central nervous system affecting especially horses and cattle; characterized by an unsteady swaying gait and frequent falling. staggers. animal disease – a disease that typically does not affect human beings.
Why does my Dog Walk Like a blind person?
Blind staggers, symptom of several unrelated animal diseases, in which the affected animal walks with an unsteady, staggering gait and seems to be blind. The many possible causes include poisoning from ingesting plants containing a high level of selenium or from ingesting grasses infected with the fungal disease known as ergot.
When do people with Stargardt disease go blind?
Stargardt disease is an inherited disorder of the retina — the tissue at the back of the eye that senses light. The disease typically causes vision loss during childhood or adolescence, although in some forms, vision loss may not be noticed until later in adulthood. It is rare for people with the disease to become completely blind.