From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-07-19 16:43:05 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re:Vaccines?
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
> and distemper vaccines. Rabies is good for two years, but most states
> make you vaccinate them each year. I stopped doing this and will only
> vaccinate the ones who've never had a reaction, every other year. My
No one has any idea how long beyond one year the IMRAB 3 Rabies vaccine
(the only rabies vaccine approved for ferrets) may last beyond a year in ferrets.
IMRAB 3 is rated for 3 years in some animals that it has been TESTED
in for three years of effectiveness (which is why "3" is in the name
and that often causes confusion). Ferrets have NOT been tested on
that score so it is considered to be effective for ONE YEAR, POSSIBLY
more but how much more remains unknown. Vaccines do NOT always behave
the same in different species. Example: When rabies vaccines were
first being tested starting back in about 1988 or so in ferrets one of
the OTHER vaccines that worked for more than one year in some other
species provided only 6 months of protection for ferrets. After 6
months when they were challenged with rabies virus they were able to
contract rabies. (It took 10 years to get from that point to having
many ferret lives saved by improvements in the compendium after
thorough CDC work on rabies in ferrets had been completed. This year
is the 10th anniversary of that success being enacted in the U.S. for
the ferret community.)
Rabies info:
http://www.nasphv.org/
(National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians)
Here is the latest (Dec 2007 and it will being the Jan 2008 JAVMA
(Journal of the American Medical Veterinary Association)
Compendium of Animal Rabies Control and Prevention:
http://www.nasphv.org/Documents/RabiesCompendium.pdf
People will want to know that rabbits and beavers have been joining
groundhogs as too often unexpected rabies vectors that are
increasing. The first two are rare vector animals but ground hogs
have been known to be among the vector animals for some time now.
Notice in Section III for IMRAB 3:
>Ferrets 1 ml 3 months Annually SC
which is species, dose, age of first vaccination, how often to
repeat, how to give the vaccine. Ferrets are NOT considered to be
vaccinated if more than a year has passed.
The animals for which IMRAB 3 is 3 year vaccine are dogs, cats and
sheep. Cattle , horses, and ferrets need it each year.
More rabies info:
http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/rabies_control.asp
(Guidelines for ordinances)
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/
(Loads of info at many different reading levels; even good ones as
resources for a kid's school composition)
http://www.microbiologybytes.com/virology/bushmeat/bush4.html
http://www.vaccineinformation.org/rabies/qandadis.asp
http://www.lawrencefire.com/safety_tips/rabies/rabies.asp
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