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Created page with ' ===''Clostridium tetani''=== ===''Clostridium botulinum''=== *Ubiquitous organism *Oval, subterminal endospores; spores survive boiling for hours *Causes [[Muscles Degen…'
===''[[Clostridium tetani]]''===
===''Clostridium botulinum''===
*Ubiquitous organism
*Oval, subterminal endospores; spores survive boiling for hours
*Causes [[Muscles Degenerative - Pathology#Botulism|botulism]], a potentially fatal intoxication
*Germination of endospores, growth of bacterial cells and toxin production in anaerobic conditions e.g. decaying carcasses and vegetation
*Disease in animals consuming rotting carcasses and in herbivores through contamination of feed
*Pathogenesis:
**Intoxication on ingestion and absorbtion of toxin from GIT into the blood
**Occasionally germination of spores in wounds or GIT
**Neurotoxin carried to peripheral nervous system
**Toxin binds gangliosides irreversibly at the neuromuscular junction
**Blocks release of acetylcholine
*Clinical signs:
**Dilated pupils, dry mucus membranes, decreased salivation, tongue flacidity, dysphagia in farm animals
**Incoordination and knuckling followed by flacid paralysis and recumbency
**Paralysis of respiratory muscles leads to death
**Flacid paralysis of legs and wings in birds
*Diagnosis:
**Mouse inoculation with infected serum
**Toxin detection by PCR, ELISA
**Toxin neutralisation tests in mice
*Treatment: polyvalent antiserum neutralises unbound toxin
*Toxoid vaccine used in endemic regions
*Implicated in [[Intestine Physical Disturbances - Pathology#Equine dysautonomia, or grass sickness|equine grass sickness]][[Category:Clostridium species]]