[Acute lead poisoning in calves: clinical, pathological and toxicological findings]

We present a case of acute lead poisoning in 10 calves. All calves died with few or no clinical signs prior to death. The clinical signs included neurologic and gastrointestinal symptoms but were of an unspecific nature. Several painted iron girders, stored on a field close to the farm, were determined as the source of the poisoning. Postmortem findings were minimal. Some animals presented acid-fast, intranuclear inclusion bodies in the renal tubules. A chemical analysis of some frozen parts of the liver and kidney revealed levels of lead as high as 12 ppm in the liver and 63 ppm in the kidney on a wet-weight basis. This article discusses the etiology, clinical signs, postmortem findings and diagnosis of lead poisoning in calves with special emphasis on the chemical analysis.