Plant poisoning is an important cause of economic losses worldwide. In the USA, plant poisoning is responsible for losses estimated to surpass US$250 million per year. These costs are attributable not only to livestock deaths and diminished productivity related to plant poisoning, but also the cost of managing forage in areas invaded by poisonous plants (Nielsen 1988). In Brazil, a rough estimate indicates that poisonous plants cause the loss of a million adult cattle per year due to mortality alone(Riet-Correa and Medeiros 2001; Tokarnia et al. 2002). In contrast to North and South America, literature related to the most important poisonous plants affecting the livestock industry is lacking in Central America. In Panama, field surveys and necropsies during 1994-1995 (A. Armien, unpublished data) indicate that, similar to Brazil, plant poisoning, rabies, and enzootic botulism are the most important cause of death for adult grazing cattle (Tokarnia et al. 2002).
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