[Acute poisoning in animals in The netherlands in the period 1985-1988]

The National Poison Control Centre (NVIC), a unit of the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Hygiene, the Netherlands, provides a 24-hour service to inform physicians, veterinary surgeons, dentists and pharmacists in case of poisoning. The total number of requests was 20,514 in 1988. In the period from 1985 to 1988 from 3 to 4 per cent of the cases in which information was supplied, concerned suspected cases of acute poisoning in animals. Pesticides were involved in the majority of cases, particularly in dogs, cats, cattle and sheep. As a result of exposure to household 'do-it-yourself' products, in dogs and cats, 40 per cent of these cases were caused by mineral oil products, such as petrol, turpentines, motor oil and lamp oil. Cases of poisoning by plants occur particularly in sheep and goats. In 50 per cent of the fatal cases the poisoning was caused by pesticides, in 17 per cent of the cases it was due to plants, in 0.5 per cent of the cases to human drugs and 0.1 per cent of the cases to veterinary drugs.