What are the symptoms of prussic acid poisoning?
Reactions to prussic acid poisoning are swift and lethal. Livestock poisoned from prussic acid usually tend to die within several minutes of consumption. Symptoms include laboured breathing, staggering, excessive salivation, convulsions, collapse and death. Prussic acid poisoning diagnosis can be similar to nitrate poisoning by way of clinical signs. Differential diagnosis depends on examining the color of the blood. Livestock poisoned by nitrates will have a chocolate, dark-coloured blood sample, whereas livestock poisoned by prussic acid will have a bright red blood sample which does not clot quickly. If an animal affected by prussic acid does not die from the poisoning, it can be treated with an injection of sodium nitrates and sodium thiosulfate by a veterinarian. The sodium nitrate releases the cyanide from the haemoglobin in the blood, freeing it up to re-attach itself to the sodium thiosulfate for excretion in the urine. Livestock that receive the treatment usually recover with
