Clinical Microbiology: Open Access

Outbreak of tetanus in a mare in Republic of Korea

6^th Clinical Microbiology Conference

October 20-22, 2016 Rome, Italy

Kichan Lee, Young Min Son, Heeyoung Kang, Suk-Kyung Lim and Suk Chan Jung

Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, South Korea

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Clin Microbiol

Abstract:

Tetanus is an acute, often fatal, infectious disease caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin of the anaerobic spore-forming bacteria Clostridium tetani. Tetanus spores are commonly introduced into tissues through wounds and they convert under anaerobic conditions to a vegetative toxin-producing form. We report here a case of C. tetani infection in a horse. A sevenyear- old thoroughbred mare had laceration on the fetlock of right hind leg two weeks prior to her death. She had a raised tail, extended head and neck and was salivating profusely. The third eyelids were prolapsed and covered the eyes. Almost all voluntary movement was impossible because of hyper-responsiveness to tactile and auditory stimuli. The necropsy was performed and there were no specific lesions. C. tetani was cultured from wound swab of the fetlock of right hind leg. Based on the characteristic clinical sings of generalized tetanus and detection of C. tetani from wound, a diagnosis of tetanus associated with C. tetani was made.

Biography :

Kichan Lee has completed her PhD from School of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University. She is a Researcher of Bacterial Diseases Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, South Korea. She has studied bacterial diseases of animals and antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from diseased animals and livestock products.

Email: noanoa33@korea.kr