A review of copper poisoning in animals: Sheep, goat and cattle

Abstract

The importance of copper as an essential nutrient has been known since the 1920's. Copper is an essential nutrient for animals and plays an important role in normal melanin production, elastin and collagen synthesis, iron metabolism, myelin formation and the integrity of the nervous system. Copper is also known to be important for effective immune responses. Copper is required, but is also highly toxic. This review article represents role of copper in various metabolism, sources of copper, mechanism of toxicity, the toxic effect of copper in sheep, goat and cattle, diagnosis, treatment and preventive measures of poisoning.