Melamine Poisoning

A special thanks to Drs Nilubol, Pattanaseth, Boonsri and Leepipatpiboon for the excellent photos

Causal agent	Melamine and its metabolites – cyanuric acid and ammeline
Age group	All age groups
Clinical signs
Acute	Death
Chronic	Progressive wasting followed by death
	Inappetance
	Increased drinking – diuresis
	Pigs may appear pale and yellow
Infectivity
	None
Transmission
	Through feed contaminated with melamine
	Melamine used to falsely inflate feed protein concentration
Post-mortem Lesions
	Renal failure. Yellow kidneys. Urinary calculi.

Diagnosis
	Histological crystals in the kidney (arrowed below)
	Raised BUN and Creatinine
	Demonstration of crystals in feed materials
Treatment
	Remove contaminated feed
	No specific – provide water to attempt to flush and maintain kidney function
Common differentials
	PMWS/PCVAD on clinical grounds in chronic cases