Tetanus

Surveillance

Tetanus is a notifiable disease in all provinces and territories, with cases reported to provincial/territorial departments of health.

Tetanus is a nationally notifiable disease. All tetanus cases that meet the national case definition are reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada through a national surveillance system:

• Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (CNDSS): Contains basic epidemiologic data since 1924, such as Notifiable Disease Charts

Deaths due to tetanus are also monitored nationally. Mortality data is obtained from the Statistics Canada Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database, which collects demographic and cause of death information annually from all provincial and territorial vital statistics registries on all deaths in Canada. Data on deaths with tetanus listed as a cause of death can be found on CANSIM.

Case Definitions for Diseases under national surveillance: Tetanus

• Case Definitions for Diseases under National Surveillance, 2009
• Case Definitions for Diseases under National Surveillance, 2000

For more information on Tetanus epidemiology, transmission, prevention and control, refer to information for Health Professionals.