Coturnism
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| Coturnism | |
|---|---|
-1.JPG) | |
| Coturnix coturnix | |
| Specialty | Toxicology |
Coturnism is an illness featuring muscle tenderness and rhabdomyolysis[1] (muscle cell breakdown) after consuming quail (usually common quail, Coturnix coturnix,[2] from which the name derives) that have fed on poisonous plants.
From case histories it is known that the toxin is stable, as four-month-old pickled quail have been poisonous. Humans vary in their susceptibility; only one in four people who consumed quail soup containing the toxin fell ill. It is apparently fat-soluble, as potatoes fried in quail fat are also poisonous.[3]
Coniine from hemlock consumed by quail has been suggested as the cause of coturnism,[4] though quail resist eating hemlock.[3] Hellebore has also been suggested as the source of the toxin.[5] It has also been asserted that this evidence points to the seeds of the annual woundwort (Stachys annua) being the causal agent.[3] It has been suggested that Galeopsis ladanum seeds are not responsible.[6]
Epidemiology
Migration routes and season may affect quail risk.[7] Quail are never poisonous outside the migration season nor are the vast majority poisonous while migrating.[3] European common quail migrate along three different flyways, each with different poisoning characteristics, at least in 20th-century records. The western flyway across Algeria to France is associated with poisonings only on the spring migration and not on the autumn return. The eastern flyway, which funnels down the Nile Valley, is the reverse. Poisonings were only reported in the autumn migration before the quail had crossed the Mediterranean. The central flyway across Italy had no associated poisonings.[3]
