Pulse - January 2022 - 18

MEDICAL LEEWAY
MYVETZONE@GMAIL.COM
Do You Overeat?
There's a Vaccine for That!
I
Christopher A. Lee, DVM, MPH, DACVPM
've always loved the story about the tortoise and the
hare. Born a glacial thinker, the story gave me hope.
As a child, I worried that it was a mark of stupidity.
As a teenager, I believed it to be proof as philosopher
material. And today, well, I think it just means that I take
my time to think. Some people are quick-witted, and
others take their time to process. Advantages and disadvantages
to both exist. Unfortunately, we know if our
trait was helpful or not after the event has occurred in
that situation.
Like people, some bacteria are fast, and others, slow. Under ideal
conditions, many bacteria replicate every twenty minutes. With
asexual reproduction, the bacterial cell enlarges to a maximum
point, then divides itself into two, and instead of one portly cell,
two identical diminutive cells remain. Bacterial twins.
Roughly 150,000 bacteria can fit on the tip of a single strand
of human hair. So if that single strand touched the potato salad,
you have just over nine million bacteria after two hours of sitting
out. This fact emphasizes the importance of refrigerating perishable
food within 2 hours of sitting out and within 1 hour if the
temperature exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some bacteria replicate slower than others. For example, mycobacteria,
the causative agent of tuberculosis, can't double faster
than every 14 hours. Under most conditions, mycobacteria take
much longer. If Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the tortoise of the bacterial
world, Clostridium perfringens is the hare. It beats most bacteria
with a top speed of doubling every 10 minutes.
What does this all have to do with overeating? " Overeating Disease "
is a ruminant condition, often brought on by feeding excess
grain. We refer to grains as " concentrates, " because grain concentrates,
or compacts, nutrients and calories into a tiny space. So,
when we need dense calories and nutrients fast, we utilize concentrates
with our ruminants.
So, now we have a crowded sea of concentrated nutrition
and billions of various, normal-floral bacteria in a dark, warm,
and wet environment - the rumen. Remember, fermenting is a
goat's primary job. The problem arises when you have a superreproducer
like Clostridium perfringens type C or D, generating
and releasing exotoxins as a gram-positive bacterium. To keep
down the competition, these bacteria want all the food themselves
to release exotoxins, or " outside-of-themselves, " toxins.
Little do they know that they are polluting their microcosm, the
goat, by being so greedy. Their greed destroys their world and,
in the end, leaves them with nothing, if drastic intervention isn't
begun. This disease can be fatal. Does this scenario sound like an
allegory for anything? Human greed risks the macrocosm of our
precious blue planet.
18
But back to our story, we have a situation where we have fed the
goat too much grain, that is, they've " overeaten. " Despite the other,
normal bacteria replicating, Clostridium perfringens quickly outstrips
them. As a result, they become greedy and, in vast numbers, release
exotoxins inside the goat, generating the disease known as enterotoxemia.
" Entero " refers to gastrointestinal, where the problem
originates. " Tox, " of course, refers to the toxin generation. And the
suffix " -emia " indicates that the toxins become blood-borne and
poison the animal. Beyond destroying multiple organs at once, the
swollen, blood appearance of the kidneys explains why this disease
sometimes bears a third name of " Pulpy Kidney Disease. "
Can't we just use some antibiotics and prevent this bacterium? Not
really. First, it's part of the normal flora. In nature, this bacterium rarely
becomes a problem, as wild goats don't have access to that much
grain. Secondly, Clostridium perfringens inhabits soil throughout the
world. And third, antibiotics can't preferentially kill all the clostridia in
the goat, leaving the rest of the normal flora alone.
So, what can we do? While we need to be careful from overfeeding
grain to goats, legitimate reasons for feeding grain exist.
Furthermore, excess grain is not the only culprit: recovery from
illness, heavy burdens of intestinal parasites, like nematodes and
coccidia, kids feeding on too much milk, or any condition that
slows peristalsis (the movement of ingesta along the gastrointestinal
tract) can lead to enterotoxemia.
Luckily, the core goat vaccine CDT addresses this disease and
can dramatically reduce the risk of the condition occurring. The
" C " and " D " refer to Clostridium perfringens types C and D. Additionally,
the " T " provides protection against tetanus. The CDT
vaccine provides the goat with an immune response against bloodborne
toxins made by these bacteria. Antibodies work well to neutralize
many types of toxins.
The scientific and glacial pondering for solutions has allowed
medicine to once again outpace the hare, in this case, Clostridium
perfrigens. Through the power of vaccines, we can protect one of
humanity's best friends, the goat. P
References, supplemental reading, and podcasts
available at www.MyVetZone.com. To add in
iTunes, search " vetzone " on Spotify or iTunes.
JANUARY 2022
PULSE
http://www.MyVetZone.com
Pulse - January 2022

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