Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Chas·tek paralysis Pronunciation:
"chas-"tek- Function:
noun : a fatal paralytic vitamin deficiency of foxes and minks that are bred incaptivity and fed raw fish and that is caused by enzymatic inactivation of thiamine by thiaminase present in the fish
Chasátek /'chas-"tek,/ John Simeon(1886–1954), American breeder of fur-bearing animals. In 1932 in Glencoe, Minnesota, a new disease of foxes was recognized for the first time on Chastek's farm. R. G. Green and C. A. Evansstudied the pathology of the disease and in 1940 published an article in which they reported that the paralysis was due to a deficiency of thiamine caused by the presence of raw fish in the diet.
