Studies on tetanus in food Animals

Clostridium tetc.ni YIdS Lso Lrrt ed from the fd.eces of diffe-rent rwninants at l”te of )0.29 percent. The highest incidence vias found in faec,J.l aarnp Le s at ages betii;,reen 6 to 12 and 12 to 18 months. The lowest incidence was found in the faeces odetermined in sera of different ruminants at different ages. Most of the animals below one year old did not show detectable amounts of antitoxins. The mean titre showed a marked rice in relation to the age. The highest incidence of the organism at ages 0:and 12: 18 months and the lower levels of n;~at the same ages may explain the idiopathic cases of te-tanus which occur among young cattle.Two hundred and ninety nine Clostridium tetani strainswere isolated from 988 faecal samples. uor e than half of the strains (59 percent) were toxigenic with variable degrees. Purification of some toxic strains resulted in wide variation in their toxin producing capacity. The inheritant capacity of the toxigeand the nontoxic strains can split off from them. Evaluation of locally pre~ed four tetanus toxnids was