An outbreak of tetanus in a sheep flock following insanitary ear tagging in Mazandaran province, Iran

Clostridium tetani is the etiologic agent of tetanus which is a hyper acute disease affecting various animal species. Tetanus distributes worldwide However its occurrence highly depends on the vaccination programs and the level of hygiene in a flock. There are a lot of flocks in Iran which have not been received vaccine. The aim of the present study is to illustrate the importance of tetanus as a cause of high mortality in small ruminants.

In a flock consisting 600 sheep, all the animal’s ears were tagged. A total of 50 animals showed clinical signs of tetanus. The wound exudates were collected from deep parts of the injured ears. The samples were stained by gram staining and were cultured on blood agar media. Then biochemical tests were conducted on the suspected colonies.

The animal’s symptoms included limb stiffness, spasticity, trismus, sternal recumbency, lateral recumbency and opisthotonus were observed. The laboratory results confirmed the presence of Clostridium tetani.

According to the present study, consideration should be given to the tetanus vaccination which is crucial in high susceptible species and flocks managed base on traditional methods. Using ear tags in a clean and hygienic manner and spraying antibiotics on the wounds during the process may also decrease the probability of tetanus.