Neonatal Tetanus in A Red Sokoto Kid: A Case Report

Abstract

Introduction: Neonatal tetanus, known as tetanus neonatorum, occurs in infants born to mothers who lack adequate immunization against the Clostridium tetani (C. tetani). Tetanus is a disease that affects animals and humans of all ages. The present study aimed to document neonatal tetanus in a 6-day-old male red Sokoto kid.
Case report: A 6-day-old male red Sokoto kid weighing 1.4 kilograms, was presented to the Large Animal Clinic of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Jos, Nigeria, with a chief complaint of inappetence for suckling milk from its mother and weakness lasting 6 days. Clinical examination revealed a rectal temperature of 36.7°C, a pulse rate of 72 beats per minute, and a respiratory rate of 64 cycles per minute. The kid presented with generalized muscle stiffness, trismus (lockjaw), bilateral opisthotonus, hyperesthesia, a characteristic sawhorse stance, and a prolapsed third eyelid. As tetanus is a clinical diagnosis with no definitive laboratory test, therefore, confirmation was based on the pathognomonic clinical signs and the kids’ history. The kid was hospitalized and kept in a dark and quiet room, where procaine penicillin, tetanus antitoxin, piroxicam (analgesic and antipyretic), multivitamin (nerve supplement), diazepam (muscle relaxant), and saline dextrose 5 % (fluid therapy) were administered, but the kid did not survive and died on the third day. Due to the case history, unsanitary environmental conditions where the kid was delivered, and signs observed that were characteristic of tetanus, the disease was diagnosed.
Conclusion: Increasing the hygiene during parturition should be encouraged, the umbilicus should be disinfected after parturition, and treatment of open wounds should be treated immediately after a cut or injury occurs. The present findings emphasized the importance of preventing and controlling tetanus through vaccination, which can reduce economic losses and enhance overall animal health.