From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2006-09-04 22:27:21 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] RE: Purevac backordered until 1/1/07!
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
There are also shows and organizations which are trying through petitions to convince Merial to either extend production time, make enough to have a stock piles, or to let a contractor continue production during the times when Merial's own production lines are instead being used to make the more profitable cat Leukemia vaccines and horse West Nile vaccines (with West Nile showing up now in horses in parts of South America hopefully that demand will not increase enough to cause further displacement).
The same USDA vaccine used for ferrets which Merial makes is also the only proven option for many wild animals, including many endangered or threatened animals who are being kept alive in zoos because their natural environment is so destroyed. Among the animals which get canine distemper are a number of large cats (not as typo), mustelids, procyonids, seals, wild canids, bears, and more.
Here is a petition I wrote that was recently used in a major ferret show.
BEGIN QUOTE
Dear Merial Executives,
We are individuals whose ferrets use your vaccine, Merial Purevax Canine Distemper Vaccine for Ferrets.
Currently, your vaccine is the only tested, proven vaccine which provides at least a year's protection against canine distemper for ferrets. In the past, Fervac-D was in competition with you, but that is no longer the case since United Vaccines discontinued that product.
Like anyone who loves their four footed companion animals we hate leaving our ferrets unprotected. In such a situation they can not participate in such communal enrichment activities as ferret athletic competitions, get-togethers, or shows which all require proven vaccines. Far worse, our ferrets run the risk of contracting one of the most painful and heartbreaking contagious neurological diseases around when your vaccine is not available.
We realize that Merial at times must use those production lines for other products, but would it be possible to do a larger run of the vaccine before you use those production lines for other products, or to out-source some of the manufacture? With Fervac-D no longer available and your vaccine being the only option available to those many people in the ferret community who attend communal ferret events, the lack of any stockpile and the scheduling problem of production being cut has proven to be a disaster because there are many months of the year when veterinarians and their clients who want and need your product simply can not get it.
It looks like this is going to be the case for as long as yours is the only canine distemper vaccine which is known to work for as long as a year in ferrets, and until a manufacturer recognizes that being able to proven longer effectiveness would increase the market among those who otherwise fear vaccines.
Demand for the Merial Purevax Canine Distemper Vaccine for Ferrets has never been higher now that Fervac-D is no longer there to grab part of the market.
Please, realize that both ferrets and zoo animals who contract canine distemper use this same product, and the need is a real one for both groups.
There must a way to avoid the months at a time when your vaccine has been unavailable in recent years. Can we and you put our heads together so that a solution to this dangerous dilemma can be found?
Presently, some are having to go to untested alternatives when your vaccine is not available and their locations are having canine distemper outbreaks, but that involves risks if great care is not used; for example, since these are not manufactured with ferrets in mind their makers could change to using ferret cell lines, which would render them a contagion risk for ferrets, without the community noticing it at first. Meanwhile, proof of long term effectiveness for those "alternatives" is lacking because their manufacturers have not shown the concern for ferrets which Merial has demonstrated.
Therefore:
We, the undersigned, request that Merial produce enough Merial Purevax Canine Distemper Vaccine for Ferrets so that the ferret community is not forced to go without protection or with untested alternatives in the future.
END QUOTE
Because that show used it I don't feel right unilaterally giving permission for re-use so, please, feel free to use it as a guide but not to just copy it.
Please, remember, that Galaxy's forerunner, Frome, was tested for an extended period in ferrets, but Galaxy itself was not tested for more than a few weeks of effectiveness, and then only in a handful of male kits.
Personally, if I were wealthy I would love to finance testing to find out how long each of these vaccines is effective in ferrets (hopefully more than a year for each so that ferrets could safely go longer between vaccines) and to also encourage the manufacturers of Galaxy to pursue USDA approval for use in ferrets because then the risk of changing cell lines -- which could endanger ferrets if the wrong change were made -- would be eliminated. I suspect that whichever vaccine could go years before repeats once the ferrets were adults would wind up in very high demand, but that data just plain does not exist because vaccines' performance varies among vaccines and among the animals receiving the vaccines. Sadly, I am not wealthy so can not fulfill that dream.
Here is some information which will help build the case for the entire spectrum of animals who can use this vaccine:
http://66.70.134.35/recommendations_for_merial.htm
includes:
BEGIN QUOTE
Merial's new PUREVAX (tm) Ferret Distemper Vaccine which is now on the market, is a univalent, lyophilized product of a recombinant canary pox vector expressing canine distemper virus antigens. The vaccine cannot cause canine distemper under any circumstances and its safety and immunogenicity have been demonstrated by vaccination and challenge tests in susceptible ferrets. Pet ferrets appear to be susceptible to post-vaccinal hypersensitivity reactions however, and a low incidence (0.3%) of reversible anaphylactic reactions occurred in field safety trials carried out by Merial.
The same vaccine was provided by Merial under a special USDA permit to the AAZV Distemper Vaccine Subcommittee (via Dr. Dick Montali) for field trials at zoos and wildlife facilities between 1997-2001. The vaccine was used mostly for animals housed outside with a risk of exposure to canine distemper. Species vaccinated included giant pandas, red pandas, raccoons, coatis, cacomistles, maned wolves, channel island foxes, fennec foxes, cusimanses, otters, lions, tigers, pumas, cheetahs and clouded leopards. In general, immunogenicity appeared to be favorable with some intraspecific variations and no untoward local or systemic reactions.
END QUOTE
So, notice that the zoo vaccine is the same one as the ferret vaccine. Which means that if they stop packaging as ferret vaccine it should be possible to use the zoo vaccine, though dose adjustment may be needed. (I thought that this vaccine was also used on seals which also get CD. Yes, many of the big cats get CD; that is not an error. Also cusimanses are small viverrids -- a short tailed type of mongoose with a very small range -- that actually are said to tame easily and make excellent pets. Ferrets are mustelids.)
Luckily, like many other universities, Missou makes papers that fulfill partial or full requirements of both their masters degrees and their doctoral degrees readily available (You can find them through the library -- which seems to be a common approach for where to put them, though some universities place them elsewhere such as in a degree oversight location or in relevant department locations -- or even through a Google search as long as you simply select terms a tad carefully.) which means that I was able to get a full paper and therefore this following quote:
BEGIN QUOTE
CDV is classified in the genus Morbillivirus within the Paramyxoviridae family.
CDV is closely related to other morbilliviruses such as measles virus (MV) of human and
nonhuman primates; rinderpest virus (RPV) of cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, buffalos, elands,
giraffes, kudus, and warthogs; pestes des petite ruminant virus (PPRV) of goats, sheep,
gazelles and ibexes; phocine distemper virus (PDV) of seals; cetacean distemper virus
(CMV) of dolphins and porpoises; and equine morbillivirus (EMV) of horses, humans
and pteropus bats (Dungworth,1993; Osterhaus et al., 1995). CDV infects other mammals
including species of the families Mustelidae (ferret, mink, skunk, weasel, badger, and
marten), Procyonidae (raccoon, coati and kinkajou), Ailuridae (lesser and giant pandas),
Ursidae (bear), Viverridae (fossa, mongoose, civet, linsang, binturong, and genet),
Hyaenidae (hyena), and Felidae (cheetah, lion, jaguar, margay, tiger, cat and ocelot)
(Appel, 1978; Dungworth, 1993).
END QUOTE
from
PHYLOGENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF CANINE DISTEMPER VIRUSES
DETECTED IN NATURALLY INFECTED NORTH AMERICAN DOGS
__________________________________________________________________
A Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
University of Missouri-Columbia
_________________________________________________
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science
__________________________________________________
by
INGRID D. R. PARDO
<http://edt.missouri.edu/Winter2006/Thesis/PardoI-042806-T4631/research.pdf#search=%22Pardo%20%2B%22PHYLOGENETIC%20CHARACTERIZATION%20OF%20CANINE%20DISTEMPER%20VIRUSES%22%20%22>
Another and earlier version, written with co-authors, can be found at
http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/full/43/10/5009
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2005, p. 5009-5017, Vol. 43, No. 10
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.43.10.5009-5017.2005
but I do not know if that contains info on other species beyond dogs.
Just as verification that CDV has been found in seals, so that people who write letters have the most info in case they also tackle zoo needs in letters or petitions as also being a reason for increased production of this vaccine I have includes the location of a seal article below. Notice that there is current molecular data which is placing or working toward placing some of the species such as skunks and lesser pandas in possible different taxonomic designations that Ms. Pardo uses above, but don't let it worry you because people will understand what is being said.
Vet Pathol. 2006 May;43(3):321-38.
The 2000 canine distemper epidemic in Caspian seals (Phoca caspica): pathology and analysis of contributory factors.
Kuiken T, Kennedy S, Barrett T, Van de Bildt MW, Borgsteede FH, Brew SD, Codd GA, Duck C, Deaville R, Eybatov T, Forsyth MA, Foster G, Jepson PD, Kydyrmanov A, Mitrofanov I, Ward CJ, Wilson S, Osterhaus AD.
Department of Virology, Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box 1738, Rotterdam, 3000 DR, The Netherlands. t.kuiken@erasmusmc.nl
Personally, I think that it would also be a good time to pressure the maker of Galaxy-D to do the needed testing on its vaccine to apply for USDA approval for use in ferrets. it may be with a two pronged approach that if one doesn't work then the other might.
A third alternative might be to try to interest the maker of some alternative to those two vaccines to do needed testing.
The reason it makes sense to try most to get Merial to increase production of Purevax-D is because the RATE of severe allergic reactions to that vaccine is far lower than the alternatives.
-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my private posts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
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