Secondary poisoning

Secondary poisoning, or relay toxicity, is the poisoning that results when one organism comes into contact with or ingests another organism that has poison in its system. It typically occurs when a predator eats an animal, such as a mouse, rat, or insect, that has previously been poisoned by a commercial pesticide. If the level of toxicity in the prey animal is sufficiently high, it will harm the predator.

Mammals susceptible to secondary poisoning include humans, pets such as cats and dogs, as well as wild birds.