Clinicopathologic findings in goats exposed to drinking water experimentally contaminated with varied low percentages of NPK 15–15–15 fertilizer

This study investigated the clinicopathology of goats exposed to drinking water experimentally contaminated with varied low percentages of NPK 15–15–15 fertilizer. Twenty West African dwarf (WAD) goats of between 4 and 8 months of age were used for the study. They were randomly divided into four groups (A, B, C, and D) and were given drinking water contaminated with NPK 15–15–15 fertilizer at the level of 3%, 1%, 0.2%, and 0% (uncontaminated control), respectively, as the only source of drinking water for the 12-week period of the study. Data on the hematology, serum biochemistry profile, body weight, and water consumption of the WAD goats were collected at the beginning of the study and also at specific intervals during the study period. At the end of the study period, the goats were humanely sacrificed, and the internal organs were examined grossly and sections of the liver, kidney, heart muscle, lung, and spleen were prepared and examined for histopathological lesions using a light microscope. Results showed that, from the fourth week to the end of the study, the groups given water contaminated with 3% and 1% fertilizer had a significantly lower (p< 0.05) packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC) count, and hemoglobin concentration (HbC) when compared to the controls. The platelet counts of the groups given water contaminated with NPK 15–15–15 fertilizer were significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of the controls at week 12 only. The serum cholesterol levels of the goats given water contaminated with 3% fertilizer was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of the controls on weeks 4 and 8 of the study. There was significant (p<0.05) weight loss and reduction in daily water consumption in all goat groups given contaminated water and significant (p<0.05) weight gain in the control group. Administration of the fertilizer-contaminated waters did not lead to any significant effects on the mean corpuscular values, total leukocyte count, absolute neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, and all the clinical biochemistry parameters (except serum cholesterol). There were also no significant differences (p>0.05) in the organ weight percentages of all the groups, and no lesions were observed on the examined tissue sections of the goats in all the groups. It was concluded that contamination of drinking water of WAD goats with NPK 15–15–15 fertilizer as used in this study led to significant reduction in PCV, HbC, RBC counts, elevated serum cholesterol, and weight loss.