January "Clean Run": Drs. Dodd & Shultz on Annual Pet Vaccines

All About Vaccine Issues and Vaccinations
by W. Jean Dodds, DVM and Ronald D. Schultz, PhD

There is little doubt that application of modern vaccine technology has permitted us to protect companion animals effectively against serious infectious diseases. Today, we can question conventional vaccine regimens and adopt effective and safe alternatives primarily because the risk of disease has been significantly reduced by the widespread use of vaccination programs, which convey underlying population or herd immunity.

For many veterinary practitioners canine vaccination programs have been “practice management tools” rather than medical procedures. Thus, it is not surprising that attempts to change the vaccines and vaccination programs based on scientific information have created significant controversy. A “more is better” philosophy still prevails with regard to pet vaccines.

Annual vaccination has been and remains the single most important reason why most pet owners bring their pets for an annual or more often “wellness visit.” Another reason for the reluctance to change current vaccination programs is that many practitioners really don’t understand the principles of vaccinal immunity. Clearly, the accumulated evidence indicates that vaccination protocols should no longer be considered as a one-size-fits-all program.

Giving annual boosters when they are not necessary has the client paying for a service that is likely to be of little benefit to the pet’s existing level of protection against these infectious diseases. It also increases the risk of adverse reactions from the repeated exposure to foreign substances...See page 13 in the January issue

Take me there

Vaccinating Dogs & Cats Yearly: You Bet Their Lives

Mark Twain once wagged, there are "lies, damn lies and statistics." This was never more true than with the potential of adverse reactions from annual vaccination of dogs and cats.

In this realm, hiding emotional pain and financial costs behind statistics keeps veterinarians safe in an outdated vaccination protocol, makes laws all the more difficult to reform and subjects companion animals to needless suffering and / or foreshortened lives.

Consider Shadow, a seven year old silvery gray house cat who is the picture of  health - except she's slowly dying from the effects of vaccine associated feline sarcoma.

VAS is an incurable - and completely avoidable cancer - that results in approximately 10 of every 10,000 vaccine injections each year. It most commonly occurs in cats; rarely in dogs and ferrets. VAS can manifest in as few as three weeks or develop slowly over five years post-vaccination. The odds of VAS increase measurably with the number of injections any one animal receives, especially when it is administered in the neck and scruff area.

Adjuvants used in killed virus vaccines including rabies and FeLV for feline leukemia also increase the risks of VAS. This substance holds the virus in the area of the vaccination for a couple of weeks so it can be released slowly, allowing immune stimulation to take place over a longer time period. Indeed, some fibrosarcomas have been found to have vaccine adjuvant embedded within them. Adjuvanted vaccines have been shown to be five times more likely to cause VAS by inducing mutations in the genes that prevent cancer.

Veterinarians have known about the risks of VAS in cats for almost 20 years.

A letter to the editor published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in October 1991 first raised the issue of a potential association between rabies vaccination of cats and development of cancerous tumors or sarcomas.

Five years later, in 1996, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and Veterinary Cancer Society (VCS) jointly formed the Vaccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force (VAFSTF) to respond to this emerging health issue of cats.

Their report was published in 2001. In many words, it stated that VAS is a problem, but the gains of vaccine protection against rabies and FeLV far outweigh the risks.

For liability reasons and treatment purposes, the AVMA and AAFP warned members to avoid neck or scruff shots; administer the vaccine in the muscle of a rear leg. This does not make VAS curable; it makes it operable.

VAS is shaped like an octopus with many tentacles reaching out from the primary tumor. Complete surgical removal is practically impossible. A fibrosarcoma between the shoulder blades is especially difficult to remove because those tentacles can extend down under the scapulas and between the spinus processes where they are inoperable.

Even with amputation and aggressive cancer treatments to arrest further invasion, the best the pet owner can hope for is to prolong the animal's quality of life for one, two, possibly three more years.

So the veterinarian who insists on yearly vaccination rolls the dice; chances of this shot causing VAS are 10,000 to one. It's a sorry bet when your companion is the one.

Ask Carol Snyder Halberstadt.

Her companion cat, Shadow was six years old when Carol noticed subtle changes in appetite, sleep patterns, then gait. A quick trip to her regular veterinarian revealed a small elongated lump in the muscle above the rear left hind leg where Shadow had been vaccinated four years before with the adjuvant feline leukemia vaccine.

Biopsy confirmed a vaccine associated feline sarcoma. It was amputate or euthanize.

Since the diagnosis almost a year ago, Shadow's leg has been amputated from the pelvic socket down. She has endured 15 radiation treatments, four chemo treatments and a cycle of carboplatin - all treatments used in both humans and animals. Treatment costs to date top $10,000. Prognosis is poor. The cancer has spread to Shadow's lungs.

"We always knew it was incurable, but knowing and knowing are two different things," says Carol Snyder Halberstadt.

How do pet owners minimize the risks?

Dr. Bob Rogers, who owns Critter Fixer pet hospital in Spring, Texas, and a staunch advocate for the reform of rabies laws in Texas and nationwide says, "If every vet would do four things [which The American Association of Feline Practitioners recommends,] VAS would be so rare it would be practically non existent."

1. Reduce the number of vaccines.
2. Use alternative methods of immunization like intranasal vaccines.
3. Avoid vaccines with adjuvants.
4. Look for a lump at the vaccination site and if one persists have it removed before it becomes cancer.

Today, the true incidence of VAS is unknown. Reporting of adverse events stemming from vaccination is not mandatory and the turmors can emerge long after the injection. But statistics suggest that few veterinarians have changed their vaccine protocol to protect cats from VAS. Vaccines without adjuvants comprise only 10 percent of the current market. The number of cats that die as a result of the administration of adjuvant rabies or FeLV vaccine has not declined.

Like playing Russian roulette with the family pet, you bet their lives when you vaccinate yearly.

###

For Shadow, Before Your Time
"For the heavens will vanish like smoke and the earth wear away like a garment..."
   (—Isaiah 51:6)

Who will understand when you go
as you must before your time?
And what is that? And what kind
of mercy will let us hold you
when you go?
You will not know old age
you will not grow old
like a plucked leaf or grass
before seeding you will go—
like a tree cut down
like a blasted mountaintop—
you will have no time
to wear away.

(© January 1, 2010 Carol Snyder Halberstadt)

Action Alert: Reform WEST VIRGINIA 2 Year Rabies Law

The Rabies Challenge Fund is mobilizing a writing campaign to help pet owners in the West Virginia reform outdated rabies laws.

Rabies laws in West Virginia that require rabies shots every two years run contrary to recommendations of all the national veterinary medical associations as well as the labeled specifications of all rabies vaccines licensed by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA). Furthermore, they potentially violate consumer protection laws by requiring West Virginia pet owners to purchase a product with no medical benefit and the possibility of considerable harm. Finally, they subject family pets to the potential for adverse reactions from the mildly uncomfortable to deadly. West Virginia is the only state in the country that requires rabies shots more often than every three years.


See the letter to state government officials from Kris Christine below.

How You Can Help: 

Contact West Virginia legislators and ask them to introduce a bill changing the two year booster requirement to conform to the three year protocol recommended by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians Rabies Compendium and ask your pet-owning friends to do the same.

West Virginia Legislature: Senate http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Senate1/members/senmemview.cfm# House http://www.legis.state.wv.us/House/members/delmemview1.cfm (this link will assist you in finding your legislators) A full e-mail list of West Virginia's Senators and Representatives is at the bottom of this post.

Contact the State Veterinarian, Dr. Gary Kinder at (304) 558-2214 Ext. 4640 Cell Phone: 546-9560 or gkinder@ag.state.wv.us

Contact Attorney General Darrell McGraw Phone: (304) 558-2021 consumer@wvago.gov




January 7, 2010

Dr. Gary Kinder, State Veterinarian Attorney General Darrell McGraw
Department of Agriculture Animal Health Division State Capitol Complex
1900 Kanawha Blvd. NE Bldg. 1, Room E-26
Charleston, WV 25305 Charleston, WV 25305

RE: VACCINATION OF DOGS AND CATS - West Virginia Code Chapter 19 Article 20 §19-20A-2

Dear Dr. Kinder and General McGraw:

On behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund and West Virginia pet owners, I am writing to alert you to the fact that West Virginia’s rabies regulations (Code Chapter 19, Article 20 §19-20A-2, Vaccination of Dogs and Cats) requiring that dogs and cats be “properly vaccinated or immunized against rabies with a vaccine capable of producing immunity for two years and shall every second year thereafter have such dog or cat revaccinated with a vaccine capable of producing immunity for two years" is contrary to the recommendations of all the national veterinary medical associations as well as the labeled specifications of all rabies vaccines licensed by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Center for Disease Control’s National Association of State Public Health Veterinarian's (NASPHV) Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control 2008 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 (50).” They specifically warn that, “[n]o laboratory or epidemiologic data exist to support the annual or biennial administration of 3- or 4-year vaccines following the initial series.” Also endorsing the NASPHV’s Rabies Compendium are the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA).[1]

Requiring West Virginia’s pet owners to pay for medically unnecessary rabies vaccinations at least every 24 months, from which their animal derive no benefit, raises ethical and legal issues which may violate the state’s consumer protection laws as well as the Veterinarians Practice Act (Article 10) when veterinarians are compelled to administer 3 year vaccines (there are no 2 year rabies vaccines licensed by the USDA), off-label every 2 years in order for their clients to comply with state law.

Immunologically, rabies vaccines are the most potent of the veterinary vaccines and “are the most common group of biological products identified in adverse event reports received by the CVB [Center for Veterinary Biologics]."[2] They are 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.

According to a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association[7] in 2005, the risk of an allergic reaction has been documented to "increase after the third or fourth injection of a vaccine (ie, a booster response) " and is "inversely related to a dog's weight," indicating that West Virginia's scientifically unfounded 2 year rabies protocol exposes its domestic dogs, especially small breeds and puppies, to unnecessary potential harm by mandating medically redundant rabies boosters.

The labels on rabies vaccines state that they are for “the vaccination of healthy cats, dogs…,” and there are medical conditions for which vaccination can jeopardize the life or well-being of an animal. A medical exemption clause inserted into the new 3 year Rabies Law being considered would allow veterinarians to write waivers for animals for whom medical conditions preclude vaccination. The State of Maine inserted such an exemption into the 3 year rabies protocol, 7 M.R.S.A., Sec. 3922(3), it adopted in 2004 as follows:

A. A letter of exemption from vaccination may be submitted for licensure, if a medical reason exists that precludes the vaccination of the dog. Qualifying letters must be in the form of a written statement, signed by a licensed veterinarian, that includes a description of the dog, and the medical reason that precludes vaccination. If the medical reason is temporary, the letter shall indicate a time of expiration of the exemption.

B. A dog exempted under the provisions of paragraph 5 A, above, shall be considered unvaccinated, for the purposes of 10-144 C.M.R. Ch.251, Section 7(B)(1), (Rules Governing Rabies Management) in the case of said dog’s exposure to a confirmed or suspect rabid animal.

The Rabies Challenge Fund strongly urges the state to amend West Virginia Code Chapter 19, Article 20 §19-20A-2 Vaccination of Dogs and Cats, to conform to the national standard set by the CDC’s NASPHV’s Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control and respectfully requests that medical exemption language be inserted into the law.

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

cc: Governor Joe Machin, III
West Virginia Legislature

Dr. W. Jean Dodds
Dr. Ronald Schultz

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Task Force. 2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines, Recommendations, and Supporting Literature, 28pp.; and ibid. 2006 AAHA Canine Vaccine Guidelines, Revised, 28 pp.

[2] Frana, Timothy, et als. Postmarketing Surveillance of Rabies Vaccines for Dogs to Evaluate Safety and Efficacy, The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association April 1, 2008 issue, Vol. 232, No. 7

[3] Dodds, W. Jean Vaccination Protocols for Dogs Predisposed to Vaccine Reactions, The Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association, May/June 2001, Vol. 37, pp. 211-214

[4] Duval D., Giger U.Vaccine-Associated Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia in the Dog, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 1996; 10:290-295

[5] American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Executive Board, April 2001, Principles of Vaccination, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Volume 219, No. 5, September 1, 2001.

[6] Vascelleri, M. Fibrosarcomas at Presumed Sites of Injection in Dogs: Characteristics and Comparison with Non-vaccination Site Fibrosarcomas and Feline Post-vaccinal Fibrosarcomas; Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Series A August 2003, vol. 50, no. 6, pp. 286-291.

[7] Moore, George E. et als., Adverse events diagnosed within three days of Vaccine Administration in Dogs, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Vol 227, No. 7, October 1, 2005



WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATORS e-mails:

jason.wazelle@wvsenate.gov; jack.yost@wvsenate.gov; larry.edgell@wvsenate.gov; jeff.kessler@wvsenate.gov; donnaboley@suddenlink.net; fdeem@mail.wvnet.edu; karen.facemyer@wvsenate.gov; delegate200@hotmail.com; evan.jenkins@wvsenate.gov; robert.plymale@wvsenate.gov; truman.chafin@wvsenate.gov; john.fanning@wvsenate.gov; senate.president@wvsenate.gov; ron.stollings@verizon.net; daniel.foster@camc.org; brooks.mccabe@wvsenate.gov; corey.palumbo@wvsenate.gov; erik.wells@wvsenate.gov; richardbrowning@verizon.net; mike.green@wvsenate.gov; don.caruth@wvsenate.gov; jesse.guills@wvsenate.gov; william.laird@wvsenate.gov; randy.white@wvsenate.gov; douglas.facemire@wvsenate.gov; joe.minard@wvsenate.gov; michael.oliverio@wvsenate.gov; roman.prezioso@wvsenate.gov; davesypolt@wvsenate.com; bob.williams@wvsenate.gov; clark.barnes@wvsenate.gov; walt.helmick@wvsenate.gov; herb.snyder@wvsenate.gov; john.unger@wvsenate.gov; mcgeehan@mail.wvnet.edu; rswartzmiller@hotmail.com; tennis@mail.wvnet.edu; rgivens@mail.wvnet.edu; thutch@mail.wvnet.edu; oklempa@mail.wvnet.edu; mike.ferro@wvhouse.gov; svarner@mail.wvnet.edu; dpethtel@mail.wvnet.edu; wromine@mail.wvnet.edu; lireland@mail.wvnet.edu; eanders1@mail.wvnet.edu; bordel@mail.wvnet.edu; tazinger@mail.wvnet.edu; ellem@wirefire.com; dpoling@mail.wvnet.edu; bashley@mail.wvnet.edu; mcarmich@mail.wvnet.edu; dmartin1@mail.wvnet.edu; bpaxton@mail.wvnet.edu; troy.andes@wvhouse.gov; pschoen@mail.wvnet.edu; kcraig1@mail.wvnet.edu; carolmil@mail.wvnet.edu; delegatejim@aol.com; delegatedoug@yahoo.com; ksobonya@mail.wvnet.edu; DelegateStephens@comcast.net; Speaker.Thompson@verizon.net; dperdue@mail.wvnet.edu; barker100@verizon.net; gbutcher@mail.wvnet.edu; jeffeldridge96@yahoo.com; rrodigh@mail.wvnet.edu; jstowers@mail.wvnet.edu; kominar@verizon.net; hkwhite@mail.wvnet.edu; djhall@mail.wvnet.edu; lgphill@mail.wvnet.edu; cmoore@mail.wvnet.edu; jhshott@mail.wvnet.edu; jfrazier@mail.wvnet.edu; tporter@mail.wvnet.edu; gcrosier@mail.wvnet.edu; vmahan@mail.wvnet.edu; rickymoye@wvhouse.gov; lsumner@mail.wvnet.edu; ssusman@mail.wvnet.edu; wrwooton@mail.wvnet.edu; wvdeltc@mail.wvnet.edu; rcanter1@mail.wvnet.edu; tlouisos@mail.wvnet.edu; dperry7@mail.wvnet.edu; mstagg@mail.wvnet.edu; bbrown1@mail.wvnet.edu; nguthrie@mail.wvnet.edu; hatfield@mail.wvnet.edu; tarmste1@mail.wvnet.edu; patrick.lane@wvhouse.gov; ronwalte@mail.wvnet.edu; dwalker@mail.wvnet.edu; Boggs34@aol.com; sargento@mail.wvnet.edu; jtalbott@mail.wvnet.edu; whartman@mail.wvnet.edu; mikeross@mail.wvnet.edu; mdsmith@mail.wvnet.edu; bhamilt@mail.wvnet.edu; marypoli@mail.wvnet.edu; whocann@mail.wvnet.edu; rfragale@mail.wvnet.edu; iaquinta@mail.wvnet.edu; timmiley@mail.wvnet.edu; mmany@mail.wvnet.edu; mike.caputo@wvhouse.gov; llongstr@mail.wvnet.edu; tmanchin@manchin-aloi.com; rbeach@mail.wvnet.edu; barbaraf@mail.wvnet.edu; chmarsh@mail.wvnet.edu; ashook@mail.wvnet.edu; lwillia1@mail.wvnet.edu; sshaver@mail.wvnet.edu; Harold@hardynet.com; aevans@mail.wvnet.edu; rschadler@comcast.net; rrowan@mail.wvnet.edu; dcowles@mail.wvnet.edu; craig@delegatecraigblair.com; jonathan@delegatejmiller.com; waltduke47@aol.com; john@overington.com; jhndoyle@mail.wvnet.edu; lawrencefordelegate@hotmail.com


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UPDATE: Nashville/Davidson County Permits 3 Year Rabies Vaccine

Good news! Fewer rabies booster shots for Nashville dogs and cats is at the discretion of pet owners and their veterinarians in Davidson County, Tennessee. Annual dog licenses are still required.  

According to Kris Christine, founder of the Rabies Challenge fund, the County Director of Health, Dr. Brent Hager (Director of Environmental Health), made the following statement on rabies vaccine requirements for Metro Nashville/Davidson County in response to her request for clarification on local rabies control and prevention laws:  

From: Hager, Brent (Health) 
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 4:08 PM 
To: Paul, Bill (Health) 
Subject: METRO/DAVIDSON (NASHVILLE) RABIES  

MCL 8.04.040 states "All licenses issued shall be valid for twelve months and shall expire on the last day of the month issued of the following year". The vaccine used, however, can be a one year or three year at the discretion of the vet or owner.  

If you have any questions about this, please contact Dr. Hager at: Dr. Brent Hager, Director of Environmental Health Metro Public Health Department of Nashville/Davidson County 311 23rd Avenue North Nashville, TN 37203 615-340-5653 (office)  

H/T: Kris Christine,The Rabies Challenge Fund. 


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Tell Tri-County Times: Unnecessary Rabies Shots DO Hurt!

An article on Understanding the Threat of Rabies in a Michigan paper, the Tri-County Times, caught my eye today. I along with leading veterinary vaccinologists and the AVMA take issue with the statement, "it doesn't hurt to get the [rabies] shot."

Yes it does.

Indeed, a recent report by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association states that "rabies vaccines are the most common group of biological products identified in adverse event reports received by the Center for Veterinary Biologics between April 1,2004 and 2007." Dogs represented 65% of the affected animals.

Rabies vaccinations are implicated in many acute and chronic health conditions that affect the health and quality of life of dogs and cats.

Dogs and cats with mild dispositions can become excessively fearful or aggressive almost overnight. Some effects are short-term, such as anaphylactic shock, seizures and other disorders of the central nervous system. Others manifest over time as chronic dysfunction  previously unknown in pets - allergies, asthma, arthritis, ear infections, thyroid disease, heart disease, kidney failure and cancer.

In the most extreme cases, dogs develop deadly autoimmune diseases, cats develop fibrosarcomas at injection sites. Even with extensive - and expensive treatment - their death rate is high.

Furthermore, rabies vaccine should NEVER be administered to a pregnant, sick or senior pet.

For safety and efficacy, rabies vaccine manufacturers' labels state that this potent biologic agent  is "for healthy animals only."

The potential for adverse reaction in healthy animals is amplified in dogs and cats with other existing factors, such as when a dog or cat is stressed, under a general anesthetic, recovering from surgery, has a chronic illness, has allergies, is on treatment for an infection, or has a history of immune system disorder, etc.

Also even a slight elevation in temperature can thwart the vaccine leaving the animal - and by extension its human - vulnerable to the rabies virus if exposed.

Finally, there is no medical necessity for repeat rabies administration.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) stated in 2003 "that there is no scientific basis for annual revaccination. Re-administering rabies vaccine does not enhance disease resistance and may expose animals to unnecessary risk."

The National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV), who write the Rabies Compendium adopted by states nationwide as "the Bible" on rabies prevention and control laws, has published this fact every year since 2005 that "No laboratory or epidemiologic data exist to support the annual or biennial administration of 3- or 4-year vaccines following the initial series.".

Repeat rabies vaccination may be law, but it is neither benign nor necessary.

Read it and write the editor