fluoroacetate poisoning

poisoning by fluoroacetate compounds. Carnivores are affected when they eat small animals that have died from fluoroacetate rodenticides, and ruminants are affected when they eat fluoroacetate-containing plants such as Acacia georginae or species of Dichapetalum, Gastrolobium, Oxylobium, or Palicourea. Poisoning in humans is usually caused by ingestion of rodenticides. Fluoroacetate blocks one of the steps in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, causing neurotoxic effects ranging from ataxia and agitation to convulsions, and cardiac manifestations such as severe tachycardia and cardiomyopathy.