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(CNN) - A 76-year-old woman died in Australia recently after a few pecks of a rooster resulted in a catastrophic venous injury.
The alarming conclusion was published in Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology in late August.
According to pathologists at the University of Adelaide and the Forensic Institute of the Netherlands, a domestic rooster attacked the woman on her rural property, pecking her left leg and "causing significant bleeding with collapse and death."
"Therefore, death was due to bleeding due to bleeding from varicose veins after a rooster attack," the researchers wrote. Bleeding refers to blood drainage, or a significant loss of blood.
The strange accident has less to do with killer birds and more with a tragic confluence of pre-existing conditions. Pathologists found that the woman had been treated for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and varicose veins in the past.
"This case demonstrates that even relatively small pets can cause lethal lesions in individuals if vascular vulnerabilities are present," the document concludes.
CNN has sent an email to the authors of the article for more comments.
There are many conditions that could be considered "vascular vulnerabilities." Varicose veins, which ultimately contributed to the woman's death, are generally not associated with serious health risks. However, some recent research has explored a link between varicose veins and potentially dangerous vascular conditions such as deep vein thrombosis.
And although the form of this woman's death is quite unusual, there are other more common risks of raising chickens.
In 2018, a widespread salmonella outbreak in live poultry led to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. to issue guidance on how to prevent the spread of bacteria among backyard chicken populations.
rooster