The Brooke - Chanda's story - the threat of tetanus in poor communities

Chanda’s story

When 16 year old Ismail’s donkey, Chanda, began refusing to eat, and seemed scared to move his owner took him to the local Brooke clinic. Chanda also had the following symptoms:

Stiff limbs
Very sensitive to light, touch and noise
Locked jaw
Unable to eat or drink easily
Restlessness

Dr Aman Khan found a festering wound on Chanda’s back and diagnosed tetanus. He then provided the following treatment to the suffering donkey:

Allowed him to rest in a dark, quiet stable
Covered his face and placed earplugs in his ears to protect him from light and noise
Treated him with penicillin and muscle relaxant injections
Dressed his wound daily
Showed Ismail how to keep his donkey clean, well fed, and safe from infections

After 15 days Chanda recovered and Ismail, who has 10 dependents, told us:


	I am really grateful. I am surprised to know that tetanus is such a fatal disease that could have killed my donkey.

Symptoms and causes

Tetanus is devastating. The disease attacks the nerves controlling the body’s muscles meaning that affected horses and donkeys cannot eat or drink, become very sensitive to light, touch and noise, and may struggle to breathe and die without veterinary care.

In poorer countries horses, donkeys and mules often contract the disease from wounds caused in several ways:

Through standing on rubbish littering the streets
Through badly fitting harnesses
As a result of falls due to overloading

Traditional Remedies

Tetanus is made even worse in communities where owners do not recognise the symptoms – as they keep their animals working. Also, the symptoms of tetanus are often treated with traditional ‘remedies’ such as:

Firing - The horse or donkey is burned with red-hot pokers from neck to tail, causing terrible pain and, in some cases, third-degree burns.

Ear cutting - In Peshawar, Pakistan, amputation or cutting of the ears is traditionally carried out to ‘bleed’ the animal of ‘bad blood’ and ’cure’ tetanus.

Smoking - Another myth is that animals with tetanus have air trapped inside their body, and to ‘smoke it out’, a red-hot cake made of cow dung is held against the animal’s rectum.

Abandonment - In Kenya, it’s believed that a sick donkey will die anyway, and there is no point treating it, so animals are cast aside - and left to die a slow, agonising death.

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