Good Bloggie!

Is it the one about silly names people give their Frenchies? Nope. About various dog shows or show dogs? Uh uh. Bizarre Frenchie antics? Not even close.

No, hand’s down, the entry that has brought in the most hits and traffic is the one about our dogs’ reactions to vaccines. An entry we wrote after watching our guys react to regular shots and boosters over the years. Reactions so severe, we’ve rushed them back to the vet or the emergency vet clinic.

(Here’s a link to the original entry: Vaccinations and adverse reactions)

Frenchies are very susceptible to these reactions, but so are many other breeds and breed mixes. The sort of search string, which usually finds the post, is: “dog reaction to shots,” “adverse reaction to puppy shots,” “adverse reaction to canine vaccinations,” “reactions to puppy immunizations,” or “dog rabies shot swelling reaction.”

But the heartbreaking ones are “puppy shots fatal,” or “shot adverse reaction dog death.” These search strings represent real people looking for information for their dog or puppy. We can only hope the majority of them who found our blog entry did so before or while their dog was having a reaction. That they were able to get their dog the help he or she needed, and that the steps we outline and follow ourselves, prevented someone the distress of watching their dog have an adverse reaction, or the agony of dealing with a reaction gone amuck.

Which shot causes the most reaction? Rabies. Do we believe in giving the rabies shot? Yes! We want our dogs to be protected and we want ourselves and other people to be protected. At the same time, we don’t want to jeopardize our dogs’ health by overvaccinating or giving them shots too young, such as a government official in Maine is proposing. She wants to change the law from giving the first rabies shot at 6 months to 3 months. The people at The Rabies Challenge Fund can explain much more eloquently why this is a really, really bad idea for a pup. And how this could affect your dog if the bill passes. Below is the notice sent out by Kris Christine, and her testimony which was read to the Maine Legislator on Monday, February 11.

(Permission to post and cross-post is granted by Kris Christine.)

Greetings!

The Director of Animal Welfare, Norma Worley, is trying to change the rabies immunization requirement for puppies from 6 months to 3 months despite the fact that Maine hasn’t had a documented case of a rabid dog since 2003 and there have only been 5 documented cases since 1994 (14 years), and none of them were noted as being puppies.

Please read the testimony I presented in opposition to Section 7 of LD 2171 at yesterday’s hearing before Maine’s Agriculture Committee. If you are concerned about this and wish to voice your opposition, PLEASE e-MAIL THE COMMITTEE members by cutting and pasting their addresses below and putting something like Oppose LD 2171 Section 7 in your subject line.

The committee wants to hear from the dog-owning public, and if it doesn’t, you may end up being required to add a rabies vaccine into the mix of puppyhood shots (distemper, hepatitis, parvo, etc..) that are being administered at that age.

Kris L. Christine

—– Original Message —–
From: Kris Christine
To: SenJohn.Nutting@legislature.maine.gov; Rsherm_2000@yahoo.com; wpieh@lincoln.midcoast.com; RepJackie.Lundeen@legislature.maine.gov; piotti@uninets.net; RepTimothy.Carter@legislature.maine.gov; RepBen.Pratt@legislature.maine.gov; lindonfarm@sacoriver.net; RepDon.Marean@legislature.maine.gov; pedgecom@maine.rr.com; RepDean.Cray@legislature.maine.gov; RepJeff.Gifford@legislature.maine.gov; Melissa.Wright@legislature.maine.gov; mrotundo@bates.edu

Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:47 AM
Subject: LD 2171–My Testimony

Greetings!

Below is a copy of the testimony I will present today.

Regards, Kris L. Christine
February 11, 2008

TO: The Agriculture, Conservation and Forest Committee

RE: LD 2171, An Act To Amend the Animal Welfare Laws

My name is Kris Christine and I live with my family in Alna, Maine. I am the Founder and Co-Trustee of The Rabies Challenge Fund (RCF). My colleagues — Dr. W. Jean Dodds of Hemopet, Co-Trustee of the RCF and Dr. Ronald Schultz of The University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, currently conducting 5 & 7 year rabies challenge studies for the RCF — are the world’s two leading veterinary vaccine research scientists.

I am here to testify against Sec. 7. 7 MRSA §3916, sub-§1-A of LD 2171, which would amend the law to require that puppies be vaccinated against rabies at 3 months of age rather than 6.

There is no scientific or epidemiological data justifying amendment of this law as there has been no increase in rabies in puppies under the age of 6 months in the State of Maine. Dr. Donald Hoenig, Maine’s State Public Health Veterinarian, told me on Wednesday, February 6th that “The last case of canine rabies in Maine was in 2003…….there have only been 5 cases of canine rabies in the past 14 years in Maine…….Cases of canine rabies are EXTREMELY UNUSUAL.”

Five cases of rabies in dogs since 1994 (no mention was made of these cases being puppies under 6 months of age), with the last one being in 2003, evidences the fact that the current law requiring puppies be vaccinated against rabies at 6 months of age is effective at controlling rabies in Maine’s canine community and does not need to be changed.

Vaccinating puppies at too young an age can be ineffective. The 2003 American Animal Hospital Association’s (AAHA) Canine Vaccine Guidelines reports on Page 17 (Attachment #1) that: “…when puppies are first vaccinated at > 16 weeks of age (an age when passively acquired antibodies generally don’t cause interference), one dose of an MLV vaccine, or two doses of a killed vaccine, are adequate to stimulate an immune response.”

On Page 16 of the 2003 AAHA Guidelines (Attachment #2), it states that: “When vaccinating an animal, the age of the animal, the animal’s immune status, and interference by maternal antibodies in the development of immunity must be considered. Research has demonstrated that the presence of passively acquired maternal antibodies interferes with the immune response to many canine vaccines, including CPV, CDV, CAV-2 and rabies vaccines.”

The 2006 AAHA Guidelines (Attachment #3), states on Page 13 as the most common reason for vaccination failure that “the puppy has a sufficient amount of passively acquired maternal antibody (PAMA) to block the vaccine……” The older the puppy is when it receives its first rabies vaccination, the more likely it will elicit the desired immunological response – as demonstrated by the extraordinarily low number of canine rabies cases in Maine over a 14 year period under the current 6 month vaccination protocol for puppies.

Rabies, a “killed” vaccine, is the most potent of the veterinary vaccines and is associated with clinically significant adverse reactions — it should only be given when warranted. According to the 2003AAHA Guidelines (Page 16) (Attachment #2), “…killed vaccines are much more likely to cause hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., immune-mediated disease).” Further, the AAHA task force reports on Page 18 (Attachment #4) that, “Bacterial vaccines, especially killed whole organism products …..are much more likely to cause adverse reactions than subunit or live bacterial vaccines or MLV vaccines, especially if given topically. Several killed bacterial products are used as immunomodulators/adjuvants. Thus, their presence in a combination vaccine product may enhance or suppress the immune response or may cause an undesired response (e.g., IgE hypersensitivity or a class of antibody that is not protective).”

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.

In sum, the law, as it currently stands requiring puppies to be vaccinated at 6 months of age is and has been effective at controlling rabies in Maine’s canine population. There is no epidemiological or scientific rationale for changing this law and prematurely exposing puppies to the potentially harmful, sometimes fatal, adverse side affects of the rabies vaccine prior to the age of 6 months.

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