A new study from the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation suggests that melamine-tainted pet foods may have been behind a large dieoff of pets in 2004 in asian countries. It was written off as coincidence ("Our popular dog foods are fed to a lot of old, sick animals"), or possible mycotoxin.

Hat tip to the Pet Connection Blog:

The Journal of Veterinary Investigative Diagnosis reported that the Asian cases were initially attributed to contamination with mycotoxin, and that “an estimated 6,000 dogs and a smaller number of cats developed nephrotoxic renal failure in 2004.” But their own research, working with tissue samples from animals from both years discovered characteristic crystals and kidney damage typical of melamine-associated renal failure (MARF) caused by the ingestion of melamine and cyanuric acid:

This study provides compelling evidence that the pet food–associated renal failure outbreaks in 2004 and 2007 share causation. In particular, the outbreaks share identical clinical, histologic, and toxicologic findings. Given the unique nature of the histologic features and the specificity of the toxicologic tests in this study, it is reasonable to conclude that both are examples of MARF. Although the source of melamine and cyanuric acid responsible for the 2007 MARF outbreak has been identified as vegetable protein concentrates imported from China, the source in the 2004 outbreak remains undetermined.

[….]

The addition of melamine, cyanuric acid, or both to enhance apparent protein content of vegetable concentrates is reportedly commonplace in some regions. Because chronic interstitial fibrosis is a self-perpetuating process and a common finding in animals with chronic kidney disease, sublethal MARF could represent an important, previously unrecognized cause of chronic kidney disease in dogs and cats. Interestingly, the contaminated wheat gluten in the 2007 outbreak was a human food–grade product. The potential effects of ingestion of similarly contaminated material by people are unknown.

This makes a lot of sense to me - there was no reason to think the practice was new - but it's also disturbing in how widespread it may have been, and leaves open the idea that a lot of animals have had their health subtly damaged by melamine for a very long time. Not to mention, of course, what's in our own food supply.

Time to get to work in the garden!