Poisoning by Amitraz, Uncommon Pesticide Revealed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography: about Two Cases

Amitraz is an insecticide of the formamidine pesticides family, used in veterinary medicine for the treatment of ectoparasites of certain animals. It inhibits monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity, but above all has alpha-2-adrenergic properties in mammals. Very few cases in men have been reported whose circumstances may be accidental or voluntary. Evolution can be fatal if management is delayed. The toxicological screening using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) returned positive to amitraz in the biological matrices. The care in the intensive care unit has consisted in treatment disinfector skin, gastric, and symptomatic in the absence of a specific antidote treatment. Although rare, poisoning with amitraz can be serious. It must be diagnosed and treated early to ensure life-threatening conditions. We report two cases of amitraz poisoning. The main objective is to describe the clinical signs of acute poisoning caused by this uncommon pesticide and to prevent its abuse for the maintenance of hives instead of its usual use as veterinary antiparasitic drugs in vertebrate animals.