Biomaterial Database

Acute, Fatal, Presumptive Xylitol Toxicosis in Cape Sugarbirds ( Promerops cafer). 2017

Brett Richard Gardner, and Emily P Mitchell

Twenty-nine wild Cape sugarbirds ( Promerops cafer) died acutely after ingestion of a homemade xylitol nectar solution from a bird feeder. The most aggressive feeders were first affected. Most birds showed clinical signs within 15 minutes of nectar ingestion, including incoordination, weakness, falling from perches, collapse, and death. A few birds showing clinical signs seemed to spontaneously recover and fly away. Full necropsy examinations done on 27 birds were hampered by freezing artifact and autolysis, but results indicated death was caused by the consequences of acute hypoglycemia. A presumptive diagnosis of xylitol toxicity was made based on the history, clinical signs, and absence of other obvious causes of death. This is potentially the first record of xylitol toxicity in wild birds.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007003	Hypoglycemia	A syndrome of abnormally low BLOOD GLUCOSE level. Clinical hypoglycemia has diverse etiologies. Severe hypoglycemia eventually lead to glucose deprivation of the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM resulting in HUNGER; SWEATING; PARESTHESIA; impaired mental function; SEIZURES; COMA; and even DEATH.	Fasting Hypoglycemia,Postabsorptive Hypoglycemia,Postprandial Hypoglycemia,Reactive Hypoglycemia,Hypoglycemia, Fasting,Hypoglycemia, Postabsorptive,Hypoglycemia, Postprandial,Hypoglycemia, Reactive
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001715	Bird Diseases	Diseases of birds not considered poultry, therefore usually found in zoos, parks, and the wild. The concept is differentiated from POULTRY DISEASES which is for birds raised as a source of meat or eggs for human consumption, and usually found in barnyards, hatcheries, etc.	Avian Diseases,Avian Disease,Bird Disease,Disease, Avian,Disease, Bird,Diseases, Avian,Diseases, Bird
D013549	Sweetening Agents	Substances that sweeten food, beverages, medications, etc., such as sugar, saccharine or other low-calorie synthetic products. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)	Artificial Sweeteners,Sugar Substitutes,Sweeteners,Agent, Sweetening,Agents, Sweetening,Artificial Sweetener,Substitute, Sugar,Substitutes, Sugar,Sugar Substitute,Sweetener,Sweetener, Artificial,Sweeteners, Artificial,Sweetening Agent
D014993	Xylitol	A five-carbon sugar alcohol derived from XYLOSE by reduction of the carbonyl group. It is as sweet as sucrose and used as a noncariogenic sweetener.
D046109	Passeriformes	A widely distributed order of perching BIRDS, including more than half of all bird species.	Passerine Birds,Perching Birds,Bird, Passerine,Passerine Bird,Perching Bird