Tetanus

[kenny thomas]

Thanks for all the reply's. By tonight the calf was down and stretched out and very stiff. He was disposed of and buried. I will begin to look at the possibility of tetanus whenever I work calves.
boondocks, everything I can read says there is much more danger in the calf getting tetanus if just banded instead of cut with a knife. I only banded these because I have had wrist and hand surgery last week and was having issues trying to castrate them by myself. I will go back to castrating them now.

 

[Lucky_P]

kenny,
Before the heifer last winter, the only other case of tetanus I've had in my own herd was a 400 lb bull I knife-cut, back when I was a senior in veterinary school, 30 years ago. Agree, there's probably less likelihood of encountering it in calves knife-cut vs. banded... but it can happen either way.
I'd grown up mostly 'clamping' calves with the Burdizzo emasculatomes - only cut 'em for a couple of years, and after that experience with tetanus in that steer, I went back to the Burdizzo, and have used them almost exclusively - unless a client demanded cutting - ever since. Have used only the Burdizzo in my own herd for 30 years; granted, we usually castrate before the calves are a month old - but I've done 'em as old as 3-4 months.

 

[boondocks]

[/quote]

boondocks, understood. The premise is that C. tetani occurs in the environment including manure, thus, there is no basis for concerns about "spreading" it by composting. Going a step further, due to the occurence of C. tetani in the soil and on the surface of objects in the environment, there is no basis for concern of spreading it or increasing the population of C. tetani.

Having said that, the decomposition action (both aerobic and anaerobic, some composting operations employ oxygen) of the broad group of microorganisms that decompose organic tissue may also be more than C. tetani including the endospores can survive. The presentation by UK at our Cost Share meeting on the 9th addressed those cases where composting is inappropriate due to concern that the pathogens pose a risk. The only condition mentioned was anthax which also produces resistant endospores.[/quote]

I see, it's not that composting kills or inactivates it, it's just that it doesn't really leave you any the worse off re that particular pathogen, and there are other benefits to composting. Sound kinda on track?

Msscamp---I'm surprised to hear that banding leaves a calf just as susceptible to picking up the bacteria as cutting does (the cutting I've seen isn't sewn up afterward; seems more likely an entry portal when the calf lays down in dirt..). What am I missing?

 

[msscamp]

Msscamp---I'm surprised to hear that banding leaves a calf just as susceptible to picking up the bacteria as cutting does (the cutting I've seen isn't sewn up afterward; seems more likely an entry portal when the calf lays down in dirt..). What am I missing?

Knife cutting allows for drainage and allows air to enter the wound, banding does not. Tetanus has to have an environment that air cannot get to in order to thrive.

 

[inyati13]

boondocks, understood. The premise is that C. tetani occurs in the environment including manure, thus, there is no basis for concerns about "spreading" it by composting. Going a step further, due to the occurence of C. tetani in the soil and on the surface of objects in the environment, there is no basis for concern of spreading it or increasing the population of C. tetani.

Having said that, the decomposition action (both aerobic and anaerobic, some composting operations employ oxygen) of the broad group of microorganisms that decompose organic tissue may also be more than C. tetani including the endospores can survive. The presentation by UK at our Cost Share meeting on the 9th addressed those cases where composting is inappropriate due to concern that the pathogens pose a risk. The only condition mentioned was anthax which also produces resistant endospores.[/quote]

I see, it's not that composting kills or inactivates it, it's just that it doesn't really leave you any the worse off re that particular pathogen, and there are other benefits to composting. Sound kinda on track?

Msscamp---I'm surprised to hear that banding leaves a calf just as susceptible to picking up the bacteria as cutting does (the cutting I've seen isn't sewn up afterward; seems more likely an entry portal when the calf lays down in dirt..). What am I missing?[/quote]

Yes. That is on track. In fact, the only reason the C. tetani survives is that the endospore endures, not the basterial cell.

 

[Texas PaPaw]

My vet told me to give toxoid at time of banding as it takes about 2 weeks to provide protection which is about the same time it takes to incubate a tetanus infection. Have banded a few thousand over the years, giving toxoid at the same time and never any tetanus. Believe Kenny said it had been about 2 weeks since he banded calf so that fits the timeframe my vet described.

 

[Lucky_P]

I've seen some real trainwrecks in groups of larger bulls banded and given tetanus toxoid at that time. Deaths often start about 7-10 days later.
Yes, there will be some immune response and antibody production by 2 weeks, but you really need the booster to get the anamnestic response necessary to boost antibody titer to 'protective level - and some of those animals will 'lose the race' between immune response and production of the toxin by organisms germinating and growing in the devitalized tissues of the scrotum/testicles/skin underneath the band.

Ideally, two doses containing TT should be given well before banding - but we all know that's not always feasible. If you can't work that, I'd opt for a dose of TAT and TT given at band application, then booster the TT 2 weeks later.

 

[kenny thomas]

Thanks Lucky_P and all the others. I do understand a lot more now. Dont know how this will change how I do things.
I also buy, work, wean several calves a year and deliver them to people that will keep them through the summer and resell them. I usually try to deliver them to the guys in 5-6 days so my lot will be empty for the next week. I may have to revisit that also. But in almost 50 years of owning cattle this is the first case of tetanus I can say I have ever seen.

 

[jerry27150]

we give covexin 8, why not just cut bottom of sack off & pull nuts, then blood supply will be there for better healing & drainage

 

[kenny thomas]

we give covexin 8, why not just cut bottom of sack off & pull nuts, then blood supply will be there for better healing & drainage

I always done this before. But this is something I had been told was ok and much easier for me because I do it all by myself.

 

[inyati13]

we give covexin 8, why not just cut bottom of sack off & pull nuts, then blood supply will be there for better healing & drainage

I think that is what I may switch to. I like Zoetis products because I have been well treated by their technical staff but I don't think they have a clostridial product that includes the bacterin toxoid for C. tetani.

 

[jerry27150]

usually do them by myself also, that is why I got a priefert calf table. works great