2008 RABIES--Report on Adverse Vaccine Reactions in Dogs & Vaccine info

[Kris L. Christine]

According to a study published in the January 2010 issue of Journal of Comparative Pathology entitled, Age and Long-term Protective Immunity in Dogs and Cats by Dr. Ronald Schultz, et als., "Old dogs and cats rarely die from vaccine-preventable infectious disease, especially when they have been vaccinated and immunized as young adults (i.e. between 16 weeks and 1 year of age). However, young animals do die, often because vaccines were either not given or not given at an appropriate age (e.g. too early in life in the presence of maternally derived antibody [MDA]).......

The present study examines the DOI for core viral vaccines in dogs that had not been revaccinated for as long as 9 years. These animals had serum antibody to canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) and canine adenovirus type-1 (CAV-1) at levels considered protective and when challenged with these viruses, the dogs resisted infection and/or disease. Thus, even a single dose of modified live virus (MLV) canine core vaccines (against CDV, cav-2 and cpv-2) or MLV feline core vaccines (against feline parvovirus [FPV], feline calicivirus [FCV] and feline herpesvirus [FHV]), when administered at 16 weeks or older, could provide long-term immunity in a very high percentage of animals, while also increasing herd immunity." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...fa65abea55dbd8

[Kris L. Christine]

Age and Long-term Protective Immunity in Dogs and Cats

Age and Long-term Protective Immunity in Dogs and Cats, Dr. Ronald Schultz et als., Journal of Comparative Pathology January 2010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...fa65abea55dbd8

"Old dogs and cats rarely die from vaccine-preventable infectious disease, especially when they have been vaccinated and immunized as young adults (i.e. between 16 weeks and 1 year of age). However, young animals do die, often because vaccines were either not given or not given at an appropriate age (e.g. too early in life in the presence of maternally derived antibody [MDA])..........

The present study examines the DOI for core viral vaccines in dogs that had not been revaccinated for as long as 9 years. These animals had serum antibody to canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) and canine adenovirus type-1 (CAV-1) at levels considered protective and when challenged with these viruses, the dogs resisted infection and/or disease. Thus, even a single dose of modified live virus (MLV) canine core vaccines (against CDV, cav-2 and cpv-2) or MLV feline core vaccines (against feline parvovirus [FPV], feline calicivirus [FCV] and feline herpesvirus [FHV]), when administered at 16 weeks or older, could provide long-term immunity in a very high percentage of animals, while also increasing herd immunity."

[Kris L. Christine]

Virginia--Medical Exemption Clause enacted March 29, 2010 http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp...1+ful+CHAP0182 VIRGINIA CODE Title 3.2 Section 3.2-6521

D. The Board of Health shall, by regulation, provide an exemption to the requirements of subsection A if an animal suffers from an underlying medical condition that is likely to result in a life-threatening condition in response to vaccination and such exemption would not risk public health and safety. For the purposes of § 3.2-6522, such exemption shall mean that the animal is considered not currently vaccinated for rabies. For the purposes of §§ 3.2-5902, 3.2-6526, and 3.2-6527, such exemption shall be considered in place of a current certificate of vaccination.

[TBell]

While there are certainly risks with any vaccine in a very small percentage of the canine world, the benefits still far outweigh the risks.

April 22 Colo. county health officials warn of skunk rabies epidemic
Several skunks in La Junta, Colo., were confirmed to be infected with rabies, prompting the Otero County Health Department to send a letter to 4,200 area households to inform them about the epidemic and remind them to have their livestock and pets immunized against rabies.

April 24 Equine rabies case in Colorado may mean vaccinations for horses
Colorado horse owners should ask their vets about the advisability of inoculating their horses again rabies, the state Department of Agriculture says. The suggestion comes after a Colorado horse was diagnosed with the disease, the second equine case discovered in two years.

April 30 Massachusetts horse is euthanized over rabies infection
A horse in Middleboro, Mass., was euthanized after it was confirmed to be infected with rabies. The horse, which was not vaccinated, is one of only three confirmed rabies cases in horses in the state over the past 10 years, a local veterinarian said, adding that the risk for the disease may be higher this year.

[Kris L. Christine]

TBELL,

The cases you cite are not in dogs. The fact of the matter is that rabies is primarily a problem in wildlife, and redundantly vaccinating the dogs of law-abiding citizens will not address that problem. Perhaps you should be advocating for the vaccination of wildlife or addressing the problem of the approximately 50% of domestic pets estimated to be completely unvaccinated against rabies.

RABIES by Margo B. Maloney, DVM, Versatile Hunting Dog February 2008
"Although it still remains a zoonotic (illness transmitted from animal to man) threat in the United States today, rabies in dometicated animals and humans has fallen to a very low level.."

Center For Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/epidemiology.html
Wild animals accounted for 92% of reported cases of rabies in 2006. Raccoons continued to be the most frequently reported rabid wildlife species (37.7% of all animal cases during 2006), followed by bats (24.4%), skunks (21.5%), foxes (6.2%), and other wild animals, including rodents and lagomorphs (0.6%).

Domestic species accounted for 8% of all rabid animals reported in the United States in 2006.

In 2006, cases of rabies in cats increased 18.2% compared with the number reported in 2005. The number of rabies cases reported in cats is routinely 3-4 times as that of rabies reported in cattle or dogs.

The California Veterinary Public Health Section’s statistics in Reported Animal Rabies by County and Species http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/di...California.pdf make abundantly clear (as does rabies data from other states): bats and other wildlife pose the major threat of rabies transmission to the public, not dogs. According to the rabies data cited, from 2007 until April 2, 2010, there was only 1 dog reported in California with rabies, while there were 2 cats, 442 bats, 55 fox, 107 skunks, 1 coyote, and 2 raccoons confirmed rabid.

In addition, a properly vaccinated dog (unless it is a non-responder, in which case no amount of boostering will elicit an immune reponse) contracting rabies is very unlikely. The Center for Disease Control reports that: "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. "

[TBell]

Kris Christine,

While I completely understand your motives having lost a dog to a rare waterborne pathogen myself, your extreme efforts somewhat dilute the fact that vaccines are and have been very beneficial.

I certainly wish I had know about a Pythiosis vaccine before my Rusti died. I have since vaccinated two of my dogs to prevent this waterborn pathogen from infecting them since Pythiosis is prevalent in my area.

While some vaccines are overrated and almost unnecessary due to the fact that the disease is non-fatal such as the 'Canine Flu Vaccine' that has received tons of 'scare tactic' PR and must certainly be 'profit' motivated, other vaccines that prevent fatal diseases must certainly be considered by some dog owners.

I compliment your efforts to bring the negative aspects of over vaccinating our dogs to a high level of attention. As pet owners and especially owners of hunting dogs who encounter wildlife more often than not, we each must weigh the risks and benefits of every available vaccine against the odds that our own dogs will encounter each particular disease.

RABIES by Margo B. Maloney, DVM, Versatile Hunting Dog February 2008
"Although it still remains a zoonotic (illness transmitted from animal to man) threat in the United States today, rabies in dometicated animals and humans has fallen to a very low level.."

The reason rabies in domestic animals is low is due to vaccines. 50 years ago my grandmother had to be treated for rabies due to a bite from a rabid squirrel. I am glad today that my family has had no such encounters due to the rabies vaccine. Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water!

Tammy Bell

[Rainmaker]

Well said, Tammy, couldn't agree more.

[cakaiser]

[/B]50 years ago my grandmother had to be treated for rabies due to a bite from a rabid squirrel. I am glad today that my family has had no such encounters due to the rabies vaccine. Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water!

Tammy Bell

Same here, Tammy, only it was my Mom, Grandmother, and Uncle.
And, the exposure came from their dog, who was a beloved pet....

He had what they called "dumb" rabies, didn't bite, but was foaming at the mouth.
They were all sticking their hands down his throat, thinking he had something stuck....

[Kris L. Christine]

NOTICE: CALIFORNIA DOG OWNERS

On 12/21/09 Dr. Ben Sun (916) 552-9744, Interim Chief of California's Veterinary Public Health Section, designated ALL COUNTIES in California as "rabies areas" http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/di...ion_Letter.pdf.

The declaration states: "The Director of the Department of Public Health has declared all counties in California as 'rabies areas' in 2010. This declaration is based on the ongoing cyclic nature of rabies in California wildlife, and the resulting threat of exposure to domestic animals, livestock, and humans."

An April 5, 2010 amendment to AB2000 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov./pub/09-10...d_asm_v98.html which seeks to add a medical exemption clause for sick dogs in designated "rabies areas," would included the following language:

" (2) A dog exempt from the canine antirabies vaccination shall be kept quarantined as directed by the local health officer, until the
dog's medical condition has resolved and the administration of the canine antirabies vaccine occurs."

This bill is currently in the Senate Rules Committee for consideration. The phone number for the California Senate Rules Committee is (916) 651-4120 and the Chair of the Committee is Senator Darrell Steinberg e-mail: Senator.Steinberg@senate.ca.gov Phone: (916) 651-4006

Under current law, the Department of Public Health is authorized to require annual rabies vaccinations in designated "rabies areas," which includes ALL counties in California for 2010. With the passage of AB2000 as amended on April 5th, dogs with medical exemptions would be required to be quarantined, which could be in an off-site pound or facility as determined by the local health officer, until their medical condition resolves or they are given a rabies vaccine.

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST

[Kris L. Christine]

PERMISSION GRANTED TO POST AND CROSS-POST

At the bottom of this post is a copy of the letter I sent on behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund on this issue.

What You Can Do to Help

Call the Senate Rules Committee and call or send an e-mail to all its members telling them to withdraw Paragraph (2) of the amendment pertaining to quarantining medically exemption animals and strike language in Section 121690 (b) of the law authorizing the Health Department to impose annual or biennial rabies vaccinations in "rabies areas."

The phone number for the California Senate Rules Committee is (916) 651-4120
Chair of the Committee is Senator Darrell Steinberg e-mail: Senator.Steinberg@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4006
Vice-chair Sam Aanestad Senator.Aanestad@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4004
Gilbert Cedillo Senator.Cedillo@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4022
Robert Dutton Senator.Dutton@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4031
Jenny Oropeza Senator.Oropeza@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4028
Bill Co-Sponsor Assembly Member Curt Hagman Assemblymember.Hagman@assembly.ca.gov (916) 319-2060

Letter from The Rabies Challenge Fund

May 15, 2010

Senator Darrell Steinberg, Chair
Senate Rules Committee
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 94248-0001

RE: Amended Rabies Bill AB2000

Greetings Senator Steinberg:

The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust respectfully requests that the Senate Rules Committee withdraw Paragraph (2) of the April 5th amendment to AB2000 which mandates that “A dog exempt from the canine antirabies vaccination shall be kept quarantined, as directed by the local health officer, until the dog's medical condition has resolved and the administration of the canine antirabies vaccine occurs.” This amendment seeks to address a public health threat which does not exist in the canine community, and which will, if passed, pose a life-threatening risk to dogs whose health is already compromised.

California’s Department of Public Health (CDPH) statistics clearly demonstrate that bats and other wildlife pose the greatest rabies threat to the public, not dogs. From 2001 through 2008, the CDPH reported 2 cases of human rabies contracted in the state, both of which were transmitted by bats. Further, according to data contained in the annual Reported Animal Rabies by County and Species issued by the CDPH, from the period of 2001 through May 7, 2010, (throughout which time all counties had been designated “rabies areas”), dogs were among the species with the least number of rabies cases in California. During the cited surveillance period 1,440 bats, 462 skunks, 74 foxes, 11 cats, and 5 dogs were reported as rabid.

The Center for Disease Control documented 32 cases of domestically-contracted cases of human rabies in the U.S. from 1995 through 2008 – 30 illnesses were transmitted by bats, 1 by fox, and 1 by raccoon. Since 1995, there have been no reported cases of human rabies from exposure to an indigenous dog in this country, and no demonstrated need exists for the California Legislature to pass harsh rabies regulations targeting dogs.

Further, The Rabies Challenge Fund asks that the Committee strike the following bolded, underlined language in the current law under Section 121690 (b) which is reiterated in AB2000 as follows: “(b) Every dog owner, after his or her dog attains the age of four months, shall, at intervals of time not more often than once a year, as may be prescribed by the department, procure its vaccination by a licensed veterinarian with a canine antirabies vaccine approved by, and in a manner prescribed by, the department, unless a licensed veterinarian determines, on an annual basis, that the dog may have a potentially lethal reaction to the canine antirabies vaccine. is currently immune compromised or has a documented medical record of a preexisting condition, including, but not limited to, an immune mediated disease, or a serious adverse reaction to a prior canine antirabies vaccine.”

Mandating rabies vaccinations more often than once every 3 years, even in designated “rabies areas,” goes against the recommendations of all the national veterinary medical associations, including the American Veterinary Medical Association [1] and the Center for Disease Control’s National Association of State Public Health Veterinarian’s Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control 2008 which states that, “Vaccines used in state and local rabies control programs should have at least a 3-year duration of immunity. This constitutes the most effective method of increasing the proportion of immunized dogs and cats in any population.”

Section 121690 (b) of the Health and Safety Code may violate California’s Consumer Protection Law by requiring pet owners to pay for a veterinary medical procedure from which their animals derive no benefit and may be harmed. The section of the law requiring biennial or annual rabies boosters in “rabies areas” may have been intended to achieve enhanced immunity to the rabies virus by giving the vaccine more often than the federal 3-year licensing standard, but, more frequent vaccination than is required to fully immunize an animal will not achieve further disease protection. Redundant rabies shots needlessly expose dogs to the risk of adverse effects while obligating residents to pay unnecessary veterinary medical fees. The American Veterinary Medical Association's 2001 Principles of Vaccination state that “Unnecessary stimulation of the immune system does not result in enhanced disease resistance, and may increase the risk of adverse post-vaccination events.”

The 3 year rabies vaccines currently licensed by the USDA for dogs all have a minimum duration of immunity of 3 years proven by challenge studies (the definitive standard in vaccine research) conducted according to the licensing standards set forth in USDA Title 9 Part 113.209. Serological studies performed by Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine show a minimum duration of immunity of 7 years. According to the Center for Disease Control, "A fully vaccinated dog or cat is unlikely to become infected with rabies…. In a nationwide study of rabies among dogs and cats in 1988,….no documented vaccine failures occurred among dogs or cats that had received two vaccinations. " [2]

Immunologically, the rabies vaccine is the most potent of the veterinary vaccines and associated with significant adverse reactions such as polyneuropathy “resulting in muscular atrophy, inhibition or interruption of neuronal control of tissue and organ function, incoordination, and weakness, ”[3] auto-immune hemolytic anemia,[4] autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid, joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central nervous system; anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy; and fibrosarcomas at injection sites are all linked to the rabies vaccine.[5] [6] It is medically unsound for this vaccine to be given more often than is necessary to maintain immunity.

A “killed” vaccine, the rabies vaccine contains adjuvants to enhance the immunological response. In 1999, the World Health Organization “classified veterinary vaccine adjuvants as Class III/IV carcinogens with Class IV being the highest risk, "[7] and the results of a study published in the August 2003 Journal of Veterinary Medicine documenting fibrosarcomas at the presumed injection sites of rabies vaccines stated, “In both dogs and cats, the development of necrotizing panniculitis at sites of rabies vaccine administration was first observed by Hendrick & Dunagan (1992). ” [8] According to the 2003 AAHA Guidelines, "...killed vaccines are much more likely to cause hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., immune-mediated disease)." [9]

On behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust and the many concerned California pet owners who have requested our assistance, I strongly urge you to withdraw Paragraph (2) of the April 5th amendment to AB2000 and strike the language in the current law cited in the bill authorizing the CDPH to impose annual or biennial rabies boosters in “rabies areas.”

Sincerely,
Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND
www.RabiesChallengeFund.org
ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com

cc: W. Jean Dodds, DVM
Ronald D. Schultz, PhD
Assembly Member Curt Hagman

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