31 Aug 2022
Two-year-old flat-coated retriever thought to have licked material close to or on a dead fish at a lakeside showed signs of distress in 10 minutes and, despite CPR, died 45 minutes later.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Cove died shortly after encountering blue-green algae at a Somerset lake. Image: © Sarah Egginton.
Government scientists have confirmed a dog died of anatoxin poisoning after encountering blue-green algae on a trip to a lake.
Cove, a two-year-old flat-coated retriever, appeared to lick material close to or on a dead fish at the water’s edge of Wimbleball Lake on Exmoor in Somerset, and was in distress within 10 minutes, displaying signs of leg paralysis and breathing difficulties. CPR was administered, but Cove died within 45 minutes.
He was playing with six other dogs at the time of the incident. None of the others showed signs of sickness.
Autopsy results showed no signs of abnormality in any organs, and toxicology tests detected no poisons or pharmaceuticals, but Government scientists at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) in Weymouth conducted two chemical tests using mass spectrometry for a range of toxins known to be produced by some species of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae.
The tests confirmed presence of anatoxin-a, and related analogues in Cove’s urine and stomach contents at levels high enough to cause severe poisoning.
Cove’s owners want to raise awareness among dog owners of the dangers posed by blue-green algae, and although full details of the case will be published in a scientific journal in the coming months, Cefas released a precis of the case to Vet Times.
It said: “Analysis confirmed that the signs observed in Cove prior to his death were directly linked to ingestion of anatoxins, produced naturally by some cyanobacteria in freshwater bodies. These can bloom at certain times of the year, and are linked to many reports of sickness in dogs and cattle. In this instance, there was confirmation of the source of the poisoning using two different chemical tests.
“This provides a timely reminder of the need to take care when exercising dogs close to water bodies where these bacteria may be blooming – and especially for the importance of clear signage by water body owners when such blooms are detected. No warning signs were present at the lake at the time of this unfortunate incident.”
Incidents of cyanobacterial blooms or scums can be reported to the Environment Agency on its 24-hour hotline at 0800 80 70 60.
