gousiekte, noun

Forms:
Also gouwziekte.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, gou quick + siekte disease; see quotation 1932.
1. Pathology. A disease of livestock resulting in sudden death and caused by the ingestion of any of several poisonous plants of the Rubiaceae.
1926 Farming in S. Afr. Apr. 3In the past gousiekte has been most troublesome in sheep, but this year heavy losses have also recurred in cattle.
1932 Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk Medicinal & Poisonous Plants 175It is called gousiekte from the fact that death is often very rapid and unexpected.
1954 Mönnig & Veldman Handbk on Stock Diseases 243During 1954 it was proved that the plant Pavetta harborii is toxic to cattle and that it is responsible for a disease very similar to ‘quick-sickness’ or gousiekte.
1972 B. De Winter in Std Encycl. of Sn Afr. V. 120The species which cause gousiekte are Pachystigma pygmaeum (gousiektebossie), P. thamnus (Natal gousiektebossie), Fadogia monticola (etc.).
1979 T. Gutsche There Was a Man 231He had to..investigate..another mysterious disease — Gouwziekte causing sheep grazing normally suddenly to jump convulsively and drop dead.
1981 J. Vahrmeijer Poisonous Plants of Sn Afr. 18Five plant species all belonging to the family Rubiaceae or Gardenia family, cause gousiekte in ruminants.
1988 T.S. Kellerman et al. Plant Poisonings & Mycotoxicosis of Livestock 114Gousiekte is a disease of domestic ruminants characterized by acute heart failure.
2. combinations
gousiektebossie /-bɔsi/ [Afrikaans, bossie (bos bush + -ie)] or gousiekte bush, either of two poisonous shrubs which cause gousiekte, Pachystigma pygmaeum or P. thamnus; occasionally with distinguishing epithet, as hairy gousiektebossie, Natal gousiektebossie;
gousiekte tree, the shrub or small tree Pavetta schumanniana, the ingestion of which results in gousiekte.
1927 D.J. Steyn in Farming in S. Afr. Aug. 247A curious characteristic of the Gousiektebossie is that it is not always poisonous to the same degree. The nature of the soil and the climatic conditions determine this to a large extent.
1934 C.P. Swart Supplement to Pettman. 60Gousiekte,..A well-known South African disease caused by the ingestion of a poisonous plant, the gousiektebossie or V. pygmese.
1957 Handbk for Farmers (Dept of Agric.) III. 339Poisonous plants such as tulp,..gousiektebossie (Pachystigma pygmaeum),..are still the main causes of plant poisoning in cattle.
1981 J. Vahrmeijer Poisonous Plants of Sn Afr. 134The gousiektebossie is usually one of the first plants to appear in the spring.
1988 T.S. Kellerman et al. Plant Poisonings & Mycotoxicosis of Livestock 114Pachystigma pygmaeum,..Hairy gousiektebossie...Pachystigma thamnus,..Natal gousiektebossie, smooth gousiektebossie.
1980 Het Suid-Western 19 Aug. (Suppl.) 4On certain veld types..game would probably fare considerably better than livestock, for example, in parts where poisonous plants like gousiekte bush and poison leaf occurred.
1981 J. Vahrmeijer Poisonous Plants of Sn Afr. 140Pavetta schumanniana,..Gousiekte tree..is the only member of the group of plants causing gousiekte which is a large shrub or tree and does not have a subterranean stem system.
A disease of livestock resulting in sudden death and caused by the ingestion of any of several poisonous plants of the Rubiaceae.
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19261988