Visceral gout is a disease of birds in which kidney failure causes a build-up of urates in the internal organs, leaving a chalky white coating on them.
Vultures are particularly sensitive to poisoning by diclofenac, which leads to kidney failure, visceral gout, and death.
The collapse of the vulture population in India and Pakistan, to about a twentieth of their original numbers, has been caused by diclofenac, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID).
Instead, dead animals are now likely to rot in the open and be partly eaten by rats or wild dogs or other pests, causing major concern and human health hazards including risks of rabies.
The Government of India has banned diclofenac, but it continues to be sold over a year later and is still a problem in other parts of the World.