Lupine-Induced Crooked Calf Disease

1. Lupine-Induced Crooked Calf Disease

2. Situation Analysis • Baby born in NW CA with severe bone deformities. • Partial absence of forearm bones • Absent thumbs

3. Possibilities • Herbicide spraying in area linked to birth defects. • Lupine (type of herbage) found in area also shown to be responsible for “crooked-calf disease” in domestic animals. • Goats have been giving birth to stillborn/abnormal kids. • Puppies from dog fed goat milk also exhibit abnormalities. • Human mother also drank goat milk during her pregnancy.

4. Crooked-Calf Disease • Causes bone abnormalities in forelimbs. • To a lesser extent affects spine and skull • Directly linked to ingestion of lupine alkaloid (anagyrine) by the mother.1

5. Hypothesis • Birth defects result from contaminated goat milk consumption by mother during early pregnancy. • Other plants in region (poison hemlock, wild tobacco, skunk cabbage) also may be responsible for birth defects.2

6. Evidence • Alkaloids from consumed plants have been shown to readily transfer into the milk of the mother.3 • Deformities exhibited by human child nearly identical to crooked-calf disease caused by toxic plants. • Lupine consumption has been widely accepted as the cause of crooked-calf disease.

7. Conclusions • No conclusive evidence is available. • Ethical constraint of knowingly feeding poisons to pregnant women. • Evidence points towards supporting hypothesis.

8. References • Animal Science 434 Case. www.wisc.edu/ansci_repro • University of Purdue Veterinary School. www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant28.htm • University of California Cooperative Extension Environmental Toxicology Newsletter. http://extoxnet.orst.edu/newsletters/n23_81.htm