Tetanus
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Tetanus, sometimes called "lockjaw", is a severe and often-fatal disease caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. This bacterial infection generally results from a cut or wound that has been contaminated. Though C. tetani may enter the body through wounds as small as a pinprick it prefers deep puncture type cuts. Such deep wounds provide the ideal environment for the bacterium to thrive due to a lack of oxygen. The most frightening part this disease is that C. tetani can be found pretty much everywhere, usually in soil, dust, and manure although a favorite hiding place of the bacterium is in the dreaded "rusty nail". It is my assertion that this is how the disease was first discovered.
As early as the fourth century B.C...