Acute poisoning of friesian heifers by Solanum macrocarpon L. ssp dasyphyllum.

Solanum macrocarpon (African eggplant) is a tropical plant widely cultivated as a delicious vegetable; the non-edible wild variety called Solanum macrocarpon L. ssp dasyphyllum (the wild African eggplant) bears thorns or spikes on the stem and leaves. Thirteen yearling heifers on a dairy farm in Uganda suffered acute poisoning after eating berries of S. macrocarpon L. ssp dasyphyllum. There was sudden onset of anorexia, copious salivation, severe dysentery and passage of red urine. The animals also had central nervous derangement (incordination, walking blindly) and exudative dermatitis. Four heifers died. Necropsy lesions were icterus, hemorrhages, gastroenteritis, lympadenomegally, and friable and bronze colored livers and kidneys. The rumen and reticulum contained masses of the plant seeds. This is the first report of cattle poisoning by this plant.