Tetanus in Farm Animals
Posted by Michael D. Piontkowski, DVM on 3/2/2001 to
TETANUS
Tetanus is a profoundly fatal disease in domestic farm animals, with worldwide distribution. There is a wide variation in susceptibility to the disease with horses and pigs being highly susceptible and cattle, sheep and goats being less susceptible. The organism that causes the disease, Clostridium tetani, requires an anaerobic environment (no oxygen) in which to grow. Animals are at greatest risk of infection, due to growth characteristics of the organism, when the bacteria enter an area of the body without exposure to outside air.