CLOSTRIDIAL DISEASES OF SMALL RUMINANTS

Members of the genus Clostridium are extraordinarily diverse in their natural habitats, and, when introduced to animal hosts, a few produce acute and often fatal disease. In sheep and goats, as in many other sp ecies of domestic animals, pathogenesis is often mediated by one or mo re of the many toxic proteins produced by these organisms. Prevention and control strategies are frequently based upon amelioration, by immu noprophylaxis, of the effects of these molecules. In spite of their re cognition for many years, clostridial diseases still present challenge s to veterinary practitioners, diagnosticians and animal producers wor ldwide. (C) Inra/Elsevier, Paris.