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Rabies Vax Study Summary Rabies Challenge Fund

Basenji Health Issues & Questions
  • 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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  • Lucky for us in New Zealand we don't require the rabies vaccine, but it is great news that work is being done so dog's in countries that require the vaccine are not subjected to unnecessary poisoning. Glad there are people out there giving their all into making the use of vaccines safer for our pets as they can't speak for themselves. Hope everyone involved gets the recognition they deserve for their hard work and persistence and hope the results in the coming years are all positive.

    Jolanda and Kaiser

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  • Rabies Vaccine reaction

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
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    eeeefarmE
    There are different types of rabies vaccine. The ones most likely to cause a reaction have thimerosal in them. A friend's dog (not a Basenji) had an anaphylactic reaction to a rabies shot, and she would have lost him had the vet not still been present and able to counter it with epinephrine. In the future they made sure the shots he got did not have thimerosal. Usually reactions aren't quite so dramatic, but something to keep in mind. I also used blood titers to avoid unnecessary vaccinations with my dogs. More expensive, but worth it!
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    DebraDownSouthD
    Seems like every decade or so, they do similar studies with similar outcomes and yet people still want to believe a mixed breed is healthier. And what I'd like to know is WHY it isn't logic to understand that a purebred dog from generations of healthy dogs, bred for health, bred to diminish genetic disorders, is more likely to be healthy than a dog from mixed parents from people who simply let it happen with no idea of health or genetics. European studies have shown what incredible differences it makes on things like CHD and other inherited disorders when you breed clear to clear, clear to effected, etc. With their massive research I wish they would go back and separate out the well bred/tested purebreds from those without health/dna clearances.
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    DebraDownSouthD
    Fran as an avid user of estrogen patches, I try to stay up on research. For every research that says cancer, another says no or only in much older women etc. Since I had to have a hysterectomy at age 40, and none of my siblings, mother or great aunts stopped their cycles until even mid 50s, it was very early. So like my specialist says, read the studies, decide on your own. The REAL dangers most agree on is uterine cancer, which I no longer have. And because mine was following years of fertility drugs, they took my ovaries too as very high risk related. Okay so that said… not that I am aware. Hormones used on bitches has primarily been used only for 2 things-- urinary incontinence and to control cycles for showing. Some research has been done on its use in spay-related aggression issues, but not much. I think one issue is dogs live such short lives, by the time they would see results of hormones, the dog is dead. But they do know there were issues with the hormones used to control heat cycles, hence it is off the market in the USA. (checque drops were the common one I think-- someone can correct me if wrong).
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    Kris_ChristineK
    Here's the link to The Rabies Challenge Fund page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rabies-Challenge-Fund/119106981159?v=wall
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  • Allergic reaction to rabies vaccine ?

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
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    myranM
    No what I gave Myran was Thuja pills(related to the cedar tree)I was supposed to give him 1 immediately after the rabies shot and then one more within the next 24 hrs.And it worked whether it was the thuja or not but he was ok. But being the skeptic that I am I had cortison pills at home from the vet just incase of a anafylactic rection.