Abstract:
Information on intoxication of livestock by plants in Brazil, in terms of cause, clinical signs and
pathology, is compared with information on livestock poisoning by plants in South Africa.
Plant poisoning, including mycotoxicosis, is considered to be one of three major causes of
death in livestock in Brazil, which is one of the top beef producing countries in the world,
with a cattle population of more than 200 million. Cattle production in South Africa is on a
more modest scale, but with some 600 species of plants and fungi known to cause toxicity
in livestock, as opposed to some 130 species in Brazil, the risk to livestock in South Africa
appears to be much greater. The comparisons discussed in this communication are largely
restricted to ruminants.
