Further observations on plant selenium levels in Western Australia

1963 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 284 ◽  
Author(s):  
MR Gardiner ◽  
RC Gorman
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
White Muscle ◽  
Critical Level ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
White Muscle Disease ◽  
Significant Difference

A survey of plant selenium was carried out in the agricultural district of Western Australia in the spring of 1962. Pasture samples were collected from mid-August to mid-November during, or shortly after, the spring flush of growth in the different districts. Pastures were collected from both 'light' and 'heavy' country in each of the districts, and whenever possible, fertilizer history was recorded and botanical composition determined. Pasture samples from the 10-15 inch rainfall belt averaged 0.26 p.p.m. selenium ; from the 15-20 inch rainfall belt, 0.08 p.p.m., from the 21-30 inch rainfall belt, 0.056 3.p.m ; and from the higher than 30 inch belt, 0.036 p.p.m. If the critical level for selenium deficiency syndromes is placed at 0.05 p.p.m., then deficiency levels mg appear in all rainfall belts, the lower limit of which is the 15 inch isobyet. Regression analyses showed that there was a significant difference between the selenium contents of pastures from heavy and light soils in each rainfall area. The indicator condition of selenium levels of 0.05 p.p.m or less (white muscle disease) has not been seen in the northern range of the higher rainfall districts, although here, as elsewhere, plant selenium levels appear to be predicated on mean annual rainfall figures and on type of county. Grasses and cereals tended to dominate the pastures in the areas with less than 15 inches of rainfall a-year, while subterranean clover with admixtures of capeweed and grasses were chiefly found in the higher rainfall districts.

The development of a soluble glass bolus to deliver selenium and cobalt to sheep

1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 245-245
Author(s):  
N.R. Kendall ◽  
A.M. Mackenzie ◽  
S.B. Telfer
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
White Muscle ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Single Element ◽  
White Muscle Disease ◽  
Soluble Glass ◽  
Copper Supplementation ◽  
Ruminant Animals ◽  
The Uk

Trace element deficiencies have been reported throughout the UK and are known to decrease the productivity and welfare of animals. Selenium deficiency is characterised by muscular myopathy, white muscle disease or stiff lamb disease. Subclinical deficiencies can also cause reduced growth rate and impaired immune function. In ruminant animals, cobalt is required for the synthesis of vitamin B12 and deficiency leads to Pine, characterised by emaciation, anaemia and listlessness. Trace element deficiencies can be due to either a single element or multiple elements. Situations occur particularly in sheep where cobalt and/or selenium are deficient but where copper supplementation can be toxic. To correct these deficiencies, a single long-lasting and effective treatment in the form of a soluble glass bolus has been designed to release cobalt and selenium. This new bolus is similar to the commercial Cosecure® bolus, which is a Co/Se/Cu soluble glass, in which zinc replaces the copper.

scholarly journals The essentiality of selenium for humans, animals, and plants, and the role of selenium in plant metabolism and physiology

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Garousi
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscles ◽  
White Muscle ◽  
Review Paper ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Plant Metabolism ◽  
White Muscle Disease ◽  
Respiration Rates ◽  
Harmful Effects

AbstractAfter its discovery, selenium was most noted for its harmful effects. Selenium was the first element identified to occur in native vegetation at levels toxic to animals. Poisoning of animals can occur through consumption of plants containing toxic levels of selenium. Livestock consuming excessive amounts of selenized forages are afflicted with “alkali disease” and “blind staggers”. Typical symptoms of these diseases include loss of hair, deformed hooves, blindness, colic, diarrhoea, lethargy, increased heart and respiration rates, and eventually death. On the other hand, selenium deficiency in animal feeds can cause “white muscle disease”, a degenerative disease of the cardiac and skeletal muscles. In this regard, this review paper attempts to summarize the essentiality of selenium for humans, animals, and plants and the role of selenium in plant metabolism and physiology.

Influence of rotation and time of germinating rains on the productivity and composition of annual pastures in Western Australia

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Thomson ◽  
C. K. Revell ◽  
N. C. Turner ◽  
M. A. Ewing ◽  
I. F. Le Coultre
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Seedling Survival ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
First Year ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Bromus Diandrus ◽  
Second Year

A long-term rotation experiment located in south-western Australia was used to measure the effect of rotation and time of germinating rains on the productivity and botanical composition of grazed annual pastures in 2 contrasting seasons in an environment with an average annual rainfall of 325 mm. The density of self-regenerating seedlings of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum), capeweed (Arctotheca calendula), and grasses (Lolium rigidum, Hordeum leporinum, Bromus diandrus) was greatly increased (approx. 3 times the density) when there was a second year of pasture after crop compared with the first year after crop. The lower plant density resulted in first-year pastures having only about 33% of the autumn biomass accumulation of second-year pastures. This difference in early pasture growth had no effect on total pasture production in 1992, but in 1993 total pasture production was 30% greater in second-year pastures compared with first-year pastures. Botanical composition varied between and within seasons with the percentage of subterranean clover increasing throughout the season and the percentage of capeweed decreasing throughout the season. Grasses comprised <20% of the biomass in all seasons and treatments. Production of subterranean clover seed in 1993 was higher in a 1 : 2 crop-pasture rotation than in a 1 : 1 crop-pasture rotation and direct drilling in the cropping phase increased seed set compared with conventional tillage in both 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 crop-pasture rotations. Capeweed seedlings emerged in large numbers after rainfall between February and May and subsequently showed a relative growth rate twice that of subterranean clover and the grasses, but exclusion of rainfall until June resulted in a significant reduction in the emergence of capeweed seedlings. Additionally, capeweed had a lower rate of seedling survival compared with other pasture species, and this is contrary to observations by other researchers that capeweed is highly resistant to moisture stress during early growth.

Ultrasonography of the Cardiopulmonary System in Camels (Camelus dromedarius)

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
White Muscle ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Dromedary Camels ◽  
White Muscle Disease ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
The Right ◽  
Chronic Pneumonia ◽  
Cardiopulmonary System

This article reviews the normal cardiac chamber appearance and quantitative dimensions in healthy dromedary camels. Besides, it shows results of ultrasonography of the lungs and pleura and its dimensions in camels. First part of the review deals with technique of echocardiography of the normal camel heart and cardiac dimensions, echocardiographic protocol and the results of the right and left parasternal ultrasonograms. It also reviews the minimum, maximum, mean values, standard deviations and coefficient of variation for the internal echocardiographic measurements in healthy camels. Second part of this review article deals with pulmonary ultrasonography and its technique and ultrasonographic finding in healthy camels. It also reviews the measurements for the dorsal and the ventral lung borders and the resulting dorsoventral dimensions of the right and left lungs. Both first and second parts are then followed by practical application of cardiopulmonary ultrasonography in camel medicine. This section shows in order the ultrasonographic findings in camels with white muscle disease (Vitamin E/Selenium deficiency), chronic pneumonia and pleuropneumonia in diseased camels.

scholarly journals Selenium in long term feeding and the frequency of White Muscle Disease in cattle in Finland during the years 1978—1985

1987 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-50
Author(s):  
Hakon W. Westermarck
Keyword(s):  
White Muscle ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Mineral Salts ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
White Muscle Disease ◽  
The World ◽  
Se Status

Selenium deficiency was established in 1961 as the primary cause for WMD in Finland. This started the propylactic treatment with mineral salts containing 0.1 ppm Se as Sodium selenite in Finland officially in 1969, the first in the world. The incidents of WMD decreased from 1.06 % in 1978 to 0.66 % in 1984. If in heifers only from 18 907 cases, 7.9 % to 11 328 cases, 4.6 %, in 1984. The decrease of WMD cases reflects a better Se status in cattle as a whole, and has also contributed to an increase in the Se content in animal products. Even though Se insufficiency was established to be important for animals, the significance of Se for human beings was disregarded, until the consequences of the deficiency in man was demonstrated by T. Westermarck in 1977.

The development of a soluble glass bolus to deliver selenium and cobalt to sheep

1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 245-245
Author(s):  
N.R. Kendall ◽  
A.M. Mackenzie ◽  
S.B. Telfer
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
White Muscle ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Single Element ◽  
White Muscle Disease ◽  
Soluble Glass ◽  
Copper Supplementation ◽  
Ruminant Animals ◽  
The Uk

Trace element deficiencies have been reported throughout the UK and are known to decrease the productivity and welfare of animals. Selenium deficiency is characterised by muscular myopathy, white muscle disease or stiff lamb disease. Subclinical deficiencies can also cause reduced growth rate and impaired immune function. In ruminant animals, cobalt is required for the synthesis of vitamin B12 and deficiency leads to Pine, characterised by emaciation, anaemia and listlessness. Trace element deficiencies can be due to either a single element or multiple elements. Situations occur particularly in sheep where cobalt and/or selenium are deficient but where copper supplementation can be toxic. To correct these deficiencies, a single long-lasting and effective treatment in the form of a soluble glass bolus has been designed to release cobalt and selenium. This new bolus is similar to the commercial Cosecure® bolus, which is a Co/Se/Cu soluble glass, in which zinc replaces the copper.

Vitamin E and selenium status of sheep during autumn in Western Australia and its relationship to the incidence of apparent white muscle disease

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 535 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. White ◽  
L. Rewell
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin E ◽  
Whole Blood ◽  
White Muscle ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Plasma Vitamin ◽  
Vitamin E Deficiency ◽  
White Muscle Disease ◽  
Adult Sheep ◽  
Plasma Vitamin E

This paper reports on the status of vitamin E and selenium in weaner and adult sheep in Western Australia (WA) during autumn, and its relationship to the incidence of apparent white muscle disease (WMD). A survey was conducted in which blood samples were taken from 10 weaner sheep (8–12 months of age) and 10 adult ewes (3 years of age) from flocks on 38 properties within the main southern agricultural region of WA, an area carrying ~10 million sheep. Deficiency of vitamin E was defined as a plasma α-tocopherol concentration less than 0.7 mg/L. Selenium deficiency was defined as whole blood glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity less than 50 U/L. Incidence and severity of apparent WMD were defined in terms of elevated plasma activities of creatine kinase (CK) or aspartate aminotransaminase (AST). Of the weaner flocks, 58% (22/38) had mean plasma vitamin E concentrations in the deficient range (<0.7 mg/L) and 50% (19/38) had mean CK activities above 400 U/L (mild WMD); four of these flocks had mean CK activities over 1200 U/L (severe WMD). Of all the individual weaner sheep sampled, 6% had plasma CK activities >1200 U/L. It is likely that the incidence of vitamin E deficiency would have been higher had it not been for unseasonal summer rain germinating pasture on eight of the survey farms in the northern wheat belt. Flocks from farms with an evident green flush to their pastures had higher vitamin E levels than flocks grazing dry pasture. Vitamin E deficiency was less common in adult sheep than weaner sheep, with only 16% of flocks (6/38) having mean plasma concentrations below 0.7 mg/L and 11% (4/38) with CK values above 400 U/L. Selenium deficiency was less common than vitamin E deficiency and was mostly confined to adult flocks, with only 5% (2/38) of these having mean GPx values below the critical value of 50 U/g haemoglobin. For both weaner and adult sheep classed as vitamin E deficient, CK and AST activity in plasma was best described by a combination of plasma vitamin E concentration and whole blood activity of GPx (significant linear step wise regression, P < 0.001). The present study shows that subclinical vitamin E deficiency (<0.7 mg/L) was widespread in weaner flocks in WA during autumn and that, based on the biochemical data, deficiency was associated with apparent severe muscle damage in 6% of weaner sheep sampled. Recommended strategies to treat weaner sheep showing signs of WMD include dosing with 2000–4000 mg vitamin E either by injection, oral drench or by spraying it onto supplementary grain. The level and frequency of dosing depends upon the severity of the WMD symptoms. Less is known about preventative treatment, but recent evidence suggests that providing weaner sheep with access to saltbush during autumn may prove to be a practically useful strategy. Selenium supplements should also be supplied to weaner and adult sheep in areas known to be selenium deficient.

A preliminary report on selenium and animal health in Western Australia

1962 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 261 ◽  
Author(s):  
MR Gardiner ◽  
J Armstrong ◽  
H Fels ◽  
RN Glencross
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Selenium Deficiency ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Growth Stages ◽  
Two Peaks

White muscle disease in Western Australia appears to be a sporadic disease, fundamentally related to selenium deficiency but in the main limited to young sheep subjected to other concurrent stresses. Whether the complicating stress condition acts primarily at a nutritional level or whether if affects associated endocrine or metabolic pathway is uncertain from present evidence, although it is possible that both mechanisms may be involved. The disease is restricted to the southwestern agricultural districts, having rainfalls of greater than 20 inches. A much greater than average rainfall during the early winter growth stages of subterranean clover, followed a dry August and September, was common to both years (1960 and 1961) during which WMD was first widely recognized and may be ecologically significant in winter outbreaks. There are two peaks of incidence--one in late winter and early spring, affecting young lambs running mainly on subclover pastures, and the other in the summer, affecting weaners and hoggets fed cereal stubble, hay and grain. A survey of these feeds suggests that tehy are very often low in selenium, and may frequently contain less than 0.03 p.p.m. (dry matter) which is proposed as a critical level. However, many flocks grazing pastures containing less than this amount of selenium appear healthy. Ten trials were carried out in the affected area in 1960-61 to test the effect of selenium on lamb or weaner rate of growth Only one trial produced evidence of a significant response although one other suggested that an improvement had taken place. Five trials to determine the value of selenium in improving ewe fertility and early lamb survival were also conducted. The. results of two of them suggested that some improvement could be achieved. Vitamin E also appeared useful in the fertility trials. The soil and plant selenium backgrounds, insofar as thy are known in Western Australia, are discussed in relation to the pattern of outbreaks. Certain factors in the changing agricultural practices are mentioned as probable contributors, notably an increase in sheep stocking rates and heavier application of superphosphate.

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