Table 3 Ergot alkaloid in herbage from Ireland (unpublished reports from the Irish Equine Centre, samples were submitted to either the veterinary diagnostic laboratory, Iowa State University, USA or the veterinary medicine diagnostic laboratory, University of Missouri Veterinary Medicine, USA, for determination of ergovaline by HPLC)
Plant samples | Date, number | Ergovaline concentration (ppb) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Herbage samples from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne)-rich pastures | April 2007, n = 39 (including 5 pooled samples) | 10 - 210 (for 17 samples, all other samples were below the limit of detection) | Collected from a cattle farm in Co. Kilkenny, with long-term problems of poor performance, and from the wider area at two distinct time points as part of a trace element survey [40] |
September 2007, n = 25 (including 5 pooled samples) | 20 - 75 (for 8 samples, all other samples were below the limit of detection) | ||
Herbage | May-October 2010, grass (n = 12) and haylage (n = 3) | <25 - 300 | Collected on 13 stud farms in counties Kildare, Kilkenny and Cork where veterinary surgeons reported high incidences of infertility, endometrial oedema, red bag presentations, post partum hemorrhage in mares, rotaviruses outbreaks in 2 to 3 month old foals at grass, and distal leg oedema in yearlings. Some conditions were reported to be responsive to changes in herbage or topping of ergotised seed heads |
Perennial ryegrass seed | May-June 2010, n = 8 | <25 - 760 | Seed from commercial suppliers |
Perennial ryegrass/clover seed mixes | May-June 2010, n = 3 | <25, 100 and 1420 | |
Fescue grass seed mix | May-June 2010, n = 1 | 900 | |
Timothy grass seed | May-June 2010, n = 2 | <25 |