Did You Know? Horses Diagnosed With Tetanus Have Only 30% Chance of Survival
Australian Veterinary Association
Tetanus is a devastating disease, in most cases resulting in the death of an affected animal. Equine Veterinarians Australia (EVA) member, Dr Steve Dennis, is now spearheading a new research project to identify the role tetanus antitoxin has in the prevention of this fatal disease in horses.
Dr Dennis has been working with colleagues at Melbourne University and the University of Sydney to determine correct dosage and the effectiveness of tetanus antitoxin, and tetanus toxoid (vaccine).
“We’ve surveyed EVA members to help us understand what vets know about tetanus antitoxin and the tetanus vaccine and how it works in horses. Animals are susceptible to contracting tetanus through open wounds, so for me, it has been routine to offer tetanus antitoxin at the time of any surgical procedures to protect unvaccinated horses from contracting this deadly disease,” Dr Dennis said.
Through his discussions with other equine vets, Dr Dennis has discovered that not everyone follows this practice.
“Some vets give tetanus antitoxin as a preventative, some don’t, some provide booster vaccinations every 5 years, some yearly Our current working knowledge in this area is based on 70 year old research and mostly on lab animals. I’m hoping this survey will open up doors for further research to be conducted to help establish best practice in protecting Australian horses from tetanus,” he said.
Only 12-15% of the horse population in Australia are currently vaccinated against tetanus. The research being conducted by Dr Dennis will hopefully shed light on whether this is a result of the higher cost to vaccinate in Australia as compared to America or the UK.
“Despite low vaccination rates, there are only a small number of horses that have presented with tetanus, but unfortunately survival rates are extremely poor. If a horse is diagnosed with tetanus, it only has a 30% chance of survival.”
“We have the means to protect our horses from this fatal disease, and we should. Vaccination appears to be highly effective and safe. The question is whether tetanus antitoxin is a useful part of our preventive approach and hopefully we’ll start getting the answers we need as a result of this research,” Dr Dennis said.
