Clinical description of tetanus in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)
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Updated: Aug 16, 2026
26:48
Induction and Clinical Scoring of Chronic-Relapsing Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
Published on: July 4, 2007
Laboratory Animal Science
|April 1, 1979
Abstract:
Nineteen cases of clinical tetanus developed in Bolivian squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) which were housed in outdoor corrals with soil-based floors. The disease was initially characterized by stiffness in gait followed by extensor rigidity, trismus and opisthotonus. Eleven of the 19 monkeys (58%) had evidence of external wounds. The case fatality rate was 100%. Tetanus accounted for 12% of adult female and 19% of adult male mortalities in the colony. Immunization with tetanus toxoid was effective in reducing the incidence of tetanus.
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