Re: RC: Rabies

[Trishmare@aol.com]

With all due respect to Dr. Newell, I absolutely disagree.  The fact of the 
matter is that there has NEVER been a recorded case of ANY animal who has 
received at least two rabies vaccinations contracting rabies.  There have, 
however, been many, many cases of rabies-vaccine caused "reactions" in 
horses.  These reactions range from co-ordination problems, gait 
abnormalities, aggression, and "rage syndrome" following rabies vaccination.  
It is commonly understood among homeopathic veterianarians that the more 
often one vaccinates an animal, the more likely are vaccine reactions to 
occur.  
    Rabies is such a fearsome disease that people tend to respond, well, 
hysterically to it.  Yet consider:

In the United states, one or two people die of rabies a year.  While that is 
very sad, it is still, one or two people out of 260+ MILLION.  In the last 18 
deaths from rabies, the animal which transmitted the disease was a bat.

Though it conceivably COULD happen, NO case of a rabies infected horse 
passing the disease to a human as EVER been recorded.  Anywhere.

Of the 8,509 cases of animal rabies in the US in 1997, only 47 were equine 
cases.  That's one half of one percent.  This, despite the fact that 
relatively few horses are vaccinated for rabies . . . about 24% of the US 
equine population.

IF the vaccines for rabies were 100% problem free, it would be easy to see 
the way clear to vaccinating all horses, every year.  But the truth is that 
the rabies vaccines, like ALL vaccines, carry their own dangers.  Neither the 
public health authorities,nor the vaccine makers will acknowledge problems 
with the rabies vaccine . . . however, at least one vaccine type has had it's 
license for distrubution revoked by the FDA because of "neurological 
problems" associated with its use.  And homeophathic veterinarians will tell 
you that there is amble anecdotal evidence that rabies vaccines DO carry 
risk.  
   Jean Dodds, DVM, of Santa Monica, California, states "rabies is one of the 
more reactive antigens, because it is a killed vaccine and it is designed to 
have a very high antigen and adjuvant response so we get good antibodies.  
Rabies vaccine can produce quite a few neurologic, distemper-like symptoms in 
animals, and a variety of debilitations, such as lack of muscle 
co-ordination, particularly in the rear end.  Rabies vaccine, along with the 
distemper vaccine, are two of the most likely vaccines to produce puppy 
seizures."

There is also the suspicion, expressed by many veterinarians and researchers, 
that horses just don't seem as susceptible to contracting rabies (even if 
exposed) as do many other mammals.  This is not to say that horses are 
immune, they aren't. But, states which have enormously high numbers of rabies 
cases have about the same incidence of rabies in horses as states with low 
numbers of rabies cases, leading some researchers to theorize that horses can 
successfully mount an immune response to the disease if exposed, even if they 
are unvaccinated. 

The Whole Horse Journal, (phone 800-424-7887 for backissues) had a very good 
article on rabies and the rabies vaccine as regards horses in thier 
September, 1999 issue.  If you are struggling with the issue of whether or 
how much to vaccinate your horse against this disease it would be a good 
issue to obtain.  BTW . . . the article comes down in favor of vaccination 
against rabies, especially if you live in a high incidence area . .  but they 
don't recomment repeating the vaccination on a yearly basis.   My own horses 
will not be vaccinated.   

<< >I recently heard that once horses have been vaccinated twice for rabies,
 they 
 >don't need to be immunized again.  Is this true or false?
 >
 
 False on two fronts. First, the legal ramifications of vaccination
 intervals dictate that an animal not vaccinated within the constraints of
 the licensing  of the vaccine are considered to be unvaccinated. So it is
 conceivable that one could face the choice of a 6 month quarantine or
 euthansis if said horse were exposed.
    Secondly, titers only measure part of the immune response, and even those
 titers decline over time.
    (Personally, I had the initial series of pre-exposure vacinations, and I
 had a shortened series of post-exposure vaccinations after handling a rabid
 skunk a couple years back.)
 
    I consider the small expense of the vaccine to be well worth it,
 especially in a rabies endemic area like mine.
 
                --CMNewell, DVM >>

Trish & pretty David,
(award winning author of articles focussing on vaccine-related issues, though 
I'm not sure what "letters" I'd use after my name to give my opinion 
"official" weight.  I have intensively studied this issue for over a decade, 
if that means anything.  And the article mentioned in the Whole Horse Journal 
was not [more's the pity] written by me, so there is no personal gain in 
listing it.  It's just a good resource.)
Grand Blanc, Michigan


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