Greetings!

My name is Kris L. Christine. I live in Maine and am the Founder and Co-Trustee of THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND (www.RabiesChallengeFund.org). My precious canine companion, Meadow, developed a malignant mast cell tumor directly on the site of his rabies shot at the age of 6 (syringe hole still visible in the tumor) and died in July after repeated surgeries failed to yield clean margins and the cancer metasticized throughout his body.

It is my goal to make available to all dog owners the scientific data on the known durations of immunity for canine vaccines and the adverse reactions associated with them so that they can make informed vaccine decisions for their beloved companions. In 2004 I launched a successful effort to change Maine's rabies immunization regulations for dogs from 2 to 3 years and insert a medical exemption clause; later that year Representative Peter Rines introduced the nation's first pet vaccine disclosure legislation on my behalf.

My posts on different vaccines (Lyme--Vaccinate or Not?, Leptospira--Adverse Reactions, Kennel Cough, Fibrosarcomas at Vaccine Injection Sites in Dogs, Titers--Shedding Some Light On, Vaccinating Puppies--16 Weeks+ Info, Vaccines-For Healthy Dogs Only) are all under one thread entitled VACCINES--Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo for those of you who are interested in saving money by avoiding redundant vaccinations for your dogs.

If anyone would like copies of the American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines, the 1992 French challenge study demonstrating that dogs were immune to a rabies challenge 5 years after vaccination, the 2003 Italian study documenting fibrosarcomas at the presumed injection sites of rabies vaccines in dogs, as well as Dr. W. Jean Dodds' papers on vaccinal adverse reactions, please e-mail me at ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com.

PERMISSION GRANTED TO CROSS-POST my vaccine informational posts.

Duration of Immunity to Canine Vaccines: What We Know and Don't Know, Dr. Ronald Schultz http://www.cedarbayvet.com/duration_of_immunity.htm

World Small Animal Veterinary Association 2007 Vaccine Guidelines http://www.wsava.org/SAC.htm Scroll down to Vaccine Guidelines 2007 (PDF)

The 2003 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are accessible online at http://www.leerburg.com/special_report.htm .

The 2006 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are downloadable in PDF format at http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocumen...s06Revised.pdf .

Veterinarian, Dr. Robert Rogers,has an excellent presentation on veterinary vaccines at http://www.newvaccinationprotocols.com/

_________________
Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND
www.RabiesChallengeFund.org

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Look, bazillions of dogs get rabies shots, and very few have adverse reactions to the shots. Hounds that run wild game have a much greater chance of coming into contact with rabies than your average house dog. If you live around a city you need to license your dog. They do have a three year shot available. To get a dog license you need proof of rabies vaccine. I would sooner take my chances with a shot than to have my dog get rabies from a coon, fox, coyote, skunk, opossum, squirrel etc. Sorry to hear about your dog. Did it hunt?

Cityboy,

You are absolutely correct, hunting hounds are at much greater risk of coming into contact with rabid animals - I am certainly not advocating against vaccinating for rabies. Most dog owners, however, are not fully informed about vaccines because few mainstream veterinarians give them full disclosure about the scientifically proven long-term durations of immunity for the vaccines or the adverse reactions associated with them. I am against overvaccinating dogs -- redundantly vaccinating your dog does not boost immunity, it needlessly exposes the animal to the risk of adverse side affects and the dog owner wastes money by paying for something their dog is not deriving any benefit from.

It is not true that dogs rarely have adverse reactions to the rabies vaccine. The rabies vaccine is the most potent of all the veterinary vaccines and it causes the most and the worst adverse side affects, according to the world's leading veterinary vaccine research scientists. You may think there are few adverse reactions because veterinarians are not required to report them, and the vast majority do not according to FDA estimates, which estimate that less than 1 in 10 vaccinal adverse reactions get reported. If ischemic dermatopathy or cancer, which can take months to develop, are one of those adverse reactions to rabies shots, it is even more unlikely that it will be reported. It's impossible to know just how often dogs adversely react to vaccines because veterinarians are not required by law to do so, and according to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association's 2007 Vaccine Guidleines, "The VGG recognises that there is gross under-reporting of vaccine-associated adverse events which impedes knowledge of the ongoing safety of these products. The recently released World Small Animal Veterinary Association 2007 Vaccine Guidelines are available online at http://www.wsava.org/SAC.htm Scroll down to Vaccine Guidelines 2007 (PDF)

Were you aware that in 1992, a French research team led by Michel Aubert published rabies challenge studies that demonstrated that dogs were immune to a rabies challenge 5 years after vaccination? A "challenge" study is one that vaccinates dogs, isolates them for a number of years so they do not acquire natural immunity to a disease, and then they are injected with high doses of virulent virus to "challenge" their immunity. Challenge studies are considered the gold standard in vaccine research. Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine has published serological studies demonstrating that dogs have antibody titers counts at levels KNOWN to confer immunity to rabies 7 years after vaccination. So, there is published scientific research which strongly indicates that U.S. laws are requiring us to overvaccinate our dogs with the most potent veterinary vaccine manufactured.

The USDA does not require veterinary vaccine manufacturers to conduct long-term duration of immunity studies to prove how long their products confer immunity. They are allowed to relabel their 3 year rabies vaccine as a 1 year product -- if you click on this link http://www.calmanimalcare.com/vaccine.htm , you will be taken to the Calm Animal Care website, which has posted Colorado State University's Small Animal Vaccination Protocol for its veterinary teaching hospital. In their protocol, it states: "Even with rabies vaccines, the label may be misleading in that a three year duration of immunity product may also be labeled and sold as a one year duration of immunity product."

The American Veterinary Medical Association states in their 2001 Principles of Vaccination that: "The one-year revaccination frequency recommendation found on many vaccine labels is based on historical precedent and United Sates Department of Agriculture regulation, not on scientific data. Even in those cases where scientific data was submitted to qualify the label claim, the data generated does not resolve the question about average or maximum duration of immunity."

There can be significant consequences to overvaccinating your dog with any vaccine. Under a separate post located at http://www.coondawgs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=60753, I posted an abstract from the Journal of Veterinary Medicine about a 2003 study documenting fibrosarcomas at the presumed sites of rabies vaccination sites. Many veterinarians will deny this, why? Because they aren't keeping up with current scientific research. Other adverse reactions such 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 linked to rabies vaccinations. I'm happy to send you that full study and the French challenge study if you contact me at ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com.

Most states require that dogs be vaccinated against rabies every 3 years, but there are some states like Kanasas, Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, and municipalities in Florida, Tennessee and elsewhere that require annual rabies vaccinations. And guess what, dogs in those areas are often being given the 3 years rabies vaccine which has been relabeled for 1 year!!! Dog owners in states or municipalities are seldom aware that the rabies vaccine they are giving their dog every year is likely a relabeled 3 year vaccine. If you click on this link http://www.calmanimalcare.com/vaccine.htm , you will be taken to the Calm Animal Care website, which has posted Colorado State University's Small Animal Vaccination Protocol for its veterinary teaching hospital. In their protocol, it states: "Even with rabies vaccines, the label may be misleading in that a three year duration of immunity product may also be labeled and sold as a one year duration of immunity product."


In order to keep your dogs healthy, you need to be informed about the vaccines you're giving them and make sure you are not overvaccinating them. I know how much your hunting dogs mean to you and just how much time you put into training them. While Meadow was not a hunting lab, my husband was an avid bird hunter at one time and trained our bird dogs himself.

Excellent information on veterinary vaccine is available at the sites below:

Duration of Immunity to Canine Vaccines: What We Know and Don't Know, Dr. Ronald Schultz http://www.cedarbayvet.com/duration_of_immunity.htm

World Small Animal Veterinary Association 2007 Vaccine Guidelines http://www.wsava.org/SAC.htm Scroll down to Vaccine Guidelines 2007 (PDF)

The 2003 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are accessible online at http://www.leerburg.com/special_report.htm .

The 2006 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are downloadable in PDF format at http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocumen...s06Revised.pdf .

Veterinarian, Dr. Robert Rogers,has an excellent presentation on veterinary vaccines at http://www.newvaccinationprotocols.com/

Kris, do you hunt?

that's all well and good, Seems like the American Vet Assoc needs to take up the cause. As hound owners our hands are pretty much tied by law. So we keep gettin them as required. When the law changes our rabies vaccination schedule will too. Even one person bitten by a dog that forwhatever reason was infected with rabies because it didn't have the 4, 0r 5 or 6 or 7 year immunity you speak of, for whatever reason, is one too many though. This would need to be well thought out before changing. Also it seems to me we would go to some kind of titer level to be sure- meaning instead of the shot our dogs would have to have blood titers drawn and that will be more expensive than getting the shots every year or three years. No? Paul Conway.

Kris,
Let me start by saying that I respect your interest in research for the rabies vaccine. I also have a lot of respect for Dr. Schultz's work (espcially in the bovine leukemia virus). That said however I think you are a little out of line to come onto a website intended for hunters and advocate against vaccinations. Vaccine related sarcoma's are definately a real thing. However I have seen one (in a cat, while I was in school) and I recently spoke to a veterinarian friend of mine with over 30 years in practice and he said as far as he could remember he had seen about 5, all of which were in cats.
Also, I sympathize to you for the loss of your own dog, I have experienced first hand loosing a dog to cancer, and it sucks because you feel like you want to do something but you cant. However that said, there has never been a case documented of a dog developing a malignant mast cell tumor because of a rabies vaccine in any veterinary literature. Therefore for you to come onto this site and tell people that is what happened to your dog and that they shouldnt vaccinate for rabies as often as they should is absurd. There is a post on this thread right now about a rabies outbreak. I promise that your hunting dog ( and especially coon dog) is a billion time more at risk for contracting rabies virus by being unvaccinated that it is to develope terminal cancer from the vaccine.
Duration of immunity of the rabies vaccine is definately a worthy question to ask. When the works comes out definatively on 7 year vaccination, I will join you in telling everyone not to overvaccinate. Till then I think you need to better pick your audience.

Yep, what he said.

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Summary of The Rabies Challenge Fund Duration of Immunity Study

A study conducted according to the USDA Title 9 canine vaccine licensing standard, was begun more than five years ago. The purpose was to determine if the duration of immunity from commercially available rabies vaccines was longer than 3 years, with the goal of extending state-mandated rabies boosters for dogs to 5, and then 7 years.

The first rabies vaccine studied was selected based on the superior response it provided in the USDA challenge trials for licensing. Another licensed rabies vaccine was administered to a second, separate group of dogs 2 years after the first study began so that a minimum of two commercially available rabies vaccines would be tested.

The second vaccine selected is the one currently administered to a very high percentage of dogs. Both vaccines demonstrated excellent protection based on antibody testing for each of the first three study years. However, fewer than 30% of dogs in the first vaccine group, now five years since vaccination, had serum rabies antibody titer levels considered positive on the Rapid Fluorescent Focus Inhibition Test (RFFIT). (Note: RFFIT is the rabies titer standard established by the Centers for Disease Control within the USA [0.1 IU/mL] and the World Health Organization [0.5 IU/mL] for export to other rabies-free locations to be adequate to protect humans, not dogs, against rabies. There is no established standard for dogs, which means that the human standards must be extrapolated when assessing protection for other species.) Some of the dogs with low or no detected RFFIT antibody were further tested to determine if they had “immunologic memory”. This in vitro test shows whether memory is present or not, even in cases when serum antibody cannot be detected at a level considered to be protective. The results of this further testing indicated that most of the dogs vaccinated five years ago, even without a positive RFFIT, do have “immunologic memory”. As soon as a USDA licensed facility can be reserved, we plan to challenge some of those dogs with rabies virus to determine if the memory response demonstrated actually correlates with protection.

Our conclusion from studies with the initial rabies vaccine is that the immunity conferred by that product, and assessed by the in vitro RFFIT, was excellent for the first three years, but declined during the fourth year, and continued to drop during the fifth year. The second vaccine group, which is now three years from vaccination, will remain on study for at least two more years.

Principal Investigator, Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, is preparing results of the study and details described above for scientific peer review and publication. That data will be made available to the public as soon as our paper has been accepted for publication. After completion of the peer-review process, it is our hope that this data will establish the world’s first canine rabies titer standard. If this data is further verified by challenge, it will provide a solid scientific base enabling states to incorporate titer clauses into their laws.

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