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Small electric currents affecting farm animals and man: A review with special reference to stray voltage

I. Electric properties of the body and the problem of stray voltage

  • Physiology
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Abstract

The literature on the electrical properties of the body and sensitivity to steady electric current in humans and farm animals is reviewed and the problem of stray voltage is examined. Stray voltage poses a problem to animal health and protection in cattle and pigs and possibly also in other animals. Dairy cattle can perceive alternating currents exceeding 1 mA between the mouth and all four hooves. Behavioural effects in cows usually occur above 3 mA. In practice, the major influence on dairy cows appears to be behavioural. In experimental research on sensitivity to electric current, the effects studied should be related primarily to the actual current densities or electric fields in the affected tissues rather than to the total voltages applied. Under normal conditions, herdsmen are less likely to be affected by stray voltage than their animals.

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  1. Department of Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 345, S-532 24, Skara, Sweden

    J. Hultgren

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Hultgren, J. Small electric currents affecting farm animals and man: A review with special reference to stray voltage. Veterinary Research Communications 14, 287–298 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00350711

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