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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Clinical Examination Protocol to Detect Atypical and Classical Scrapie in Sheep
Published on: January 19, 2014
Elemental sulfur toxicosis in a flock of sheep
M S Bulgin1, S D Lincoln, G Mather
1Department of Animal and Veterinary Science, Caine Veterinary Teaching and Research Center, University of Idaho, Caldwell 83605, USA.
Abstract:
Two thousand Panama X Rambouillet ewes from a flock of 2,200 developed signs of acute toxicosis after being moved to a field that had been sprayed 16 hours earlier with elemental sulfur. Acute signs were lethargy, abdominal discomfort, and prostration. Two hundred six (10%) of the affected ewes died within 24 hours. Polioencephalomalacia that was unresponsive to thiamine treatment developed in another 40 (2%) of the ewes; 28 (70%) of the ewes with polioencephalomalacia recovered. Sulfur is converted to hydrogen sulfide in the rumen. Signs of sulfur toxicosis are a result of absorption of hydrogen sulfide and interaction with the cytochrome system and hemoglobin. Sulfide is detoxified in the RBC and by the liver.
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