The APCC hotline fields daily calls regarding potential animal intoxications from the US, its territories, and Canada. We explored the value of these data for identifying increased occurrences of intoxications related to livestock and poultry species, toxicant product categories, clinical syndromes, and illness severity. These data proved valuable for identifying risks of toxicant exposures by species, product category, and season. In addition to identifying intoxication risks to animal health, these data could be used to monitor for infectious outbreaks that may initially be confused for intoxications.
Objective
To describe the value of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Poison Control Center (APCC) livestock animal calls as a passive data stream for biosurveillance of number of calls, species affected, toxicant exposures, and clinical syndromes.