Fatal Canine Intoxications Linked to the Presence of Saxitoxins in Stranded Marine Organisms Following Winter Storm Activity

Abstract

At the start of 2018, multiple incidents of dog illnesses were reported following consumption of marine species washed up onto the beaches of eastern England after winter storms. Over a two-week period, nine confirmed illnesses including two canine deaths were recorded. Symptoms in the affected dogs included sickness, loss of motor control, and muscle paralysis. Samples of flatfish, starfish, and crab from the beaches in the affected areas were analysed for a suite of naturally occurring marine neurotoxins of dinoflagellate origin. Toxins causing paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) were detected and quantified using two independent chemical testing methods in samples of all three marine types, with concentrations over 14,000 µg saxitoxin (STX) eq/kg found in one starfish sample. Further evidence for PSP intoxication of the dogs was obtained with the positive identification of PSP toxins in a vomited crab sample from one deceased dog and in gastrointestinal samples collected post mortem from a second affected dog. Together, this is the first report providing evidence of starfish being implicated in a PSP intoxication case and the first report of PSP in canines.

Multiple New Paralytic Shellfish Toxin Vectors in Offshore North Sea Benthos, a Deep Secret Exposed

“…The presence of toxins in benthic invertebrates that may be washed ashore has societal implications, with beach scavenged crabs and starfish implicated in recent canine deaths [ 42 ]. Anecdotally A. diaphanum was found among the stomach contents of a dog that had died following a beach walk in 2005 (pers.comm [ 114 ]) and implicated in multiple dog deaths in 2006 [ 115 ], however, in neither case were PSTs tested for and no archived samples were stored for retrospective analysis.…”

“…Furthermore, there have been instances of PSTs affecting terrestrial animals. Notably, after a large winter storm in January 2018 whereby multiple intoxications including two fatalities were reported in dogs walking along East Anglian (UK) beaches, which ingested washed up benthic species that were subsequently found to contain high concentrations of PSTs [ 42 ]. Various benthic species were discovered to have accumulated toxins including crabs, flatfish ( Limanda limanda ) and starfish.…”

Paralytic shellfish poisoning and palytoxin poisoning in dogs

“…Few cases of PSP in animals are reported, and they tend to be episodic. Signs reported in dogs include rapid-onset vomiting, lethargy, weakness and hindlimb paralysis 3. Victims of PSP remain alert and conscious.…”

“…In the winter of 2017/2018, multiple incidents of illness in dogs were reported following consumption of marine animals washed up onto the beaches of eastern England after winter storms. Over a 2-week period, nine confirmed cases, including two canine deaths, were recorded 3. Signs in the affected dogs included vomiting, loss of motor control and muscle paralysis.…”

The Application of Nanopore Sequencing Technology to the Study of Dinoflagellates: A Proof of Concept Study for Rapid Sequence-Based Discrimination of Potentially Harmful Algae

“…The toxic algal species associated with HAB events belong to a variety of planktonic taxa. However, there is a notable dominance by protists of the Phylum Dinoflagellata in marine HAB events (Hallegraeff, 2004;Hernández-Becerril et al, 2007;Hallegraeff, 2010;Ralston et al, 2011;Turner et al, 2018). Of greatest concern are the acute and potentially fatal effects of PSP, a syndrome associated with consumption of saxitoxin (STX), which causes paralysis and can result in death from suffocation.…”