Clover Disease


Clover Disease

 

(also clover sickness), a disease of animals, observed when they are fed a large quantity of alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum). Horses are most often affected, but sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, and oxen also suffer from the disease. Exposure of animals to the sun fosters the development of clover disease. In mild cases there is a quickly disappearing redness and rash on unpigmented areas of the skin. In severe cases weeping dermatitides and symptoms of general toxic jaundice develop. If the feeding of clover is not curtailed, the poisoning may result in death.