Introduction

Classification

Taxonomy

• Class: Clostridia.
• Order: Eubacteriales.
• Family: Clostridiaceae.
• Genus: Clostridium.
• Species: tetani.
• There are strains of the bacterium, but all produce an antigenically homogeneous toxin.

Etymology

• Gk: kloster - spindle (resembling long sticks with a bulge (spore) at the end).
• Gk: tetanos - tension.

Active Forms

Resting Forms

Clinical Effects

Epidemiology

Habitat

• Spores are widely distributed in soil and feces (and intestines) of animals.

Lifecycle

• There are two life stages of Clostridium tetani: sporular and vegetative.
• When conditions are not favorable, the vegetative form produces spores and dies.
• When conditions are favorable, spores germinate, producing both toxin and vegetative forms of the bacterium.

Transmission 

Pathological effects

• Hyperactivity of voluntary muscles, leading to rigidity and tetanic spasms, is characteristic of tetanus.

Other Host Effects

• Brain involvement, respiratory compromise.

Control

Control via animal

• Vaccination.

Control via chemotherapies

• Anti-toxin (to neutralize free toxin) and antibiotics to kill vegetative forms.

Vaccination

• Using tetanus toxoid.
• Routine vaccination is infrequent in the rabbit, as the incidence of the disease if low and the rabbit has intermediate susceptibility to tetanus.

Diagnosis

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Popoff M R (2020) Tetanus in animals. J Vet Diag Invest 32 (2), 184-191 PubMed.

Other sources of information

• Tiwari T S P, Moro P L & Acosta A M (2021) Tetanus. In: Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases. 14th edn. Eds: Hall E, Wodi A P, Hamborsky J et al. Center for Disease Control and Prevention-DC Public Health Foundation, USA. pp 315-328.
• Greene C E (2012) Tetanus. In: Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat. 4th edn. Ed: Greene C E. Elsevier, USA. pp 423-431.