9 replies to this topic

[Kris L. Christine]

AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) EXECUTIVE BOARD PASSES ANNUAL RABIES VACCINATION WAIVER http://www.avma.org/...ation_Final.pdf
"...AVMA recognizes some animals might require a waiver from rabies vaccination because the vaccination poses an unacceptably high risk to the health of the individual animal..."

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[diane allen]

Good news, and I realize this isn't all new stuff...but the part that says, "upon recommendation of a licensed veterinarian and with the concurrence of the appropriate public health authorities" is somewhat bothersome.

If the vet says it's good, why should "appropriate public health authorities" be able to have a different opinion? Hopefully it would not be an issue....but some places in this country, yeah, it would.

diane

[Kris L. Christine]

Good news, and I realize this isn't all new stuff...but the part that says, "upon recommendation of a licensed veterinarian and with the concurrence of the appropriate public health authorities" is somewhat bothersome.

If the vet says it's good, why should "appropriate public health authorities" be able to have a different opinion? Hopefully it would not be an issue....but some places in this country, yeah, it would.

diane

Diane, this policy is a guideline for vets across the country & there are some states which require a state official (Connecticut is one) to approve the waiver -- so this language incorporates circumstances that would fit differing state regulations/laws.

The fact that the largest veterinary medical association in the country officially recognizes that there are health conditions in which rabies vaccination poses an unacceptable risk to the health of the animal is enormous!

[katenjim]

AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) EXECUTIVE BOARD PASSES ANNUAL RABIES VACCINATION WAIVER http://www.avma.org/...ation_Final.pdf
"...AVMA recognizes some animals might require a waiver from rabies vaccination because the vaccination poses an unacceptably high risk to the health of the individual animal..."

Permission Granted to Cross-Post

Thank-you Kris for your hard work on this. Having a dog that seizures after rabies, this is a big relief for me. My vet would give me a health risk waiver, but this is more "legal". Thank-you

[Blackdawgs]

I have a 10 year old who would qualify for a waiver. My state grants waivers. But, yet, after much thought I vaccinated anyway.

Why?

Because my state does NOT recognize titers. If there was an exposure, my dog would be considered unvaccinated despite the letter from my vet, despite the waiver from my county, and despite the titers...and my dog would be considered unvaccinated with all the legal ramifications of an exposure to/ from an unvaccinated dog.

Although the risk of my dog biting someone is pretty minimal, she has killed small animals in my suburban backyard and we do have raccons in this neighborhood. I just saw one yesterday...crossing the street in broad daylight. A dog at the county border was just diagnosed with rabies--the owner saw the dog carrying around a dead raccon. The whole family had to undergo rabies prophylaxis...and several years ago a rabid raccon wondered into a doctors fenced backyard (on my side of town) and exposed his three dogs who were fortunately vaccinated. Nonethless there was a quarrentine situation.

While these rabies waivers are a good thing, one needs to read the fine print and then make a judgement on the risk vs benefit. State/local law superceeds anything coming from the AVMA.

[katenjim]

I think this needs to be a individual choice after rabies is given in the first year. Dr. Jean Dodds has already proven rabies immunity lasts at least 7 years. Having a dog that seizured very badly after rabies, my concern is for his health. Last year he had a very bad seizure after rabies vaccine. He's 8 and I will not give any more rabies for him. I think it must be a personal choice, dogs health, age, location, and exposure to possible infected wildlife. I had two previous border collies that lived to 16 & 18 years old, I did not vaccinate after 10 years old, my veterinarians advised not vaccinating.

[Liz P]

Recently there was a confirmed case of a dog with rabies that had not been vaccinated for 5 (maybe 7?) years. I have personally seen distemper in a dog who had not been vaccinated for 10 years (he had his puppy series, was boostered at age 1 and 2). It is clear that vaccines do NOT confer lifelong immunity to ALL dogs. While I certainly agree some animals are at high risk and should not be vaccinated, I don't think stopping all vaccines for dogs after the puppy series is a safe option.

[Kris L. Christine]

Dr. Jean Dodds has already proven rabies immunity lasts at least 7 years.

Actually, this is not quite correct. French challenge studies conducted by a research team led by Michel Aubert & published in 1992 demonstrated that dogs were immune to a rabies challenge 5 years after vaccination. Dr. Ronald Schult's serological studies proved that dogs have antibody titer counts at levels known to confer immunity to rabies 7 years after vaccination.

Currently, the 5 & 7 year rabies challenge studies being financed by The Rabies Challenge Fund are 1/2 way through their 5th year. These are being conducted according to the USDA's Title 9 code for rabies vaccine licensing standard, upon which all state laws are based. If successful, then the scientific data will be available for states to extend their mandated booster intervals.

[Kris L. Christine]

Recently there was a confirmed case of a dog with rabies that had not been vaccinated for 5 (maybe 7?) years.

I read that news story also, however, it was not mentioned if the dog had received 2 properly administered rabies vaccines in the primary series. That was an important omission, as the CDC reported that in a study of all confirmed rabies in dogs and cats in the United States during the course of hte study, there were no documented vaccine failures in animals that had received two vaccinations.

Rabies Prevention -- United States, 1991 Recommendations of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee (ACIP), Center for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly March 22, 1991 / 40(RR03);1-19 http://www.cdc.gov/m...ml/00041987.htm "A fully vaccinated dog or cat is unlikely to become infected with rabies, although rare cases have been reported (48). In a nationwide study of rabies among dogs and cats in 1988, only one dog and two cats that were vaccinated contracted rabies (49). All three of these animals had received only single doses of vaccine; no documented vaccine failures occurred among dogs or cats that had received two vaccinations. "

[Liz P]

There are a lot of possibilities. Maybe the vaccine wasn't viable. Maybe the dog just didn't respond to the vaccine in the first place. Maybe the vaccine was not given correctly (I've heard of techs giving rabies vaccines). Maybe the dog was vaccinate correctly, had a series of 2 vaccines and responded to the vaccines but his immune system for whatever reason stopped producing antibodies after so many years.

I am the first person to say that vaccines must not be abused, but they do play a vital role in the health of our dogs. We need to proceed with science rather than conjecture when deciding on protocols. I hope that the case of the previously vaccinated dog with rabies is being investigating to figure out what went wrong.