Rabies
Rabies
vaccine for dogs
May 2010
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For many years, this couple have been organizing in all the states in the US to
adopt their model legislation to reduce the frequency of rabies doses given to
dogs, and related legislation. all based on medical arguments. They've had
success in some states. ---gary
To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@lincoln.midcoast.com>
From: Peter & Kris Christine <ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com>
Subject: CALIFORNIA--Rabies Bill AB 2000 ACTION ALERT!
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CALIFORNIA--Medical Exemption Bill AB 2000 ACTION ALERT!
On 12/21/09 California State Public Health Veterinarian, Dr. Ben Sun (916)
552-9744, designated ALL COUNTIES in California as "rabies areas" for 2010
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Documents/2010_LHD_Rabies_Declaration_Letter.pdf.
The declaration states: "The Director of the Department of Public Health has
declared all counties in California as 'rabies areas' in 2010. This declaration
is based on the ongoing cyclic nature of rabies in California wildlife, and the
resulting threat of exposure to domestic animals, livestock, and humans."
An April 5, 2010 amendment to AB2000
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov./pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_1951-2000/ab_2000_bill_20100405_amended_asm_v98.html
which seeks to add a medical exemption clause for sick dogs in designated
"rabies areas," would included the following language: "(2) A dog exempt from
the canine antirabies vaccination shall be kept quarantined as directed by the
local health officer, until the
dog's medical condition has resolved and the administration of the canine
antirabies vaccine occurs."
This bill is currently in the Senate Rules Committee for consideration.
Under current law, the Department of Public Health is authorized to require
annual rabies vaccinations in designated "rabies areas," which includes ALL
counties in California for 2010. With the passage of AB2000 as amended on April
5th, dogs with medical exemptions would be required to be quarantined, which
could be in an off-site pound or facility as determined by the local health
officer, until their medical condition resolves or they are given a rabies
vaccine.
At the bottom of this action alert is a copy of the letter I sent on behalf of
The Rabies Challenge Fund on this issue.
What You Can Do to Help
Call the Senate Rules Committee and call or send an e-mail to all its members
telling them to withdraw Paragraph (2) of the amendment pertaining to
quarantining medically exemption animals and strike language in Section 121690
(b) of the law authorizing the Health Department to impose annual or biennial
rabies vaccinations in "rabies areas."
The phone number for the California Senate Rules Committee is (916) 651-4120
Chair of the Committee is Senator Darrell Steinberg e-mail:
Senator.Steinberg@senate.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 651-4006
Vice-chair Sam Aanestad
Senator.Aanestad@senate.ca.gov (916) 651-4004
Gilbert Cedillo Senator.Cedillo@senate.ca.gov
(916) 651-4022
Robert Dutton Senator.Dutton@senate.ca.gov
(916) 651-4031
Jenny Oropeza Senator.Oropeza@senate.ca.gov
(916) 651-4028
Bill Co-Sponsor Assembly Member Curt Hagman
Assemblymember.Hagman@assembly.ca.gov
(916) 319-2060
Letter from The Rabies Challenge Fund
May 15, 2010
Senator Darrell Steinberg, Chair
Senate Rules Committee
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 94248-0001
RE: Amended Rabies Bill AB2000
Greetings Senator Steinberg:
The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust respectfully requests
that the Senate Rules Committee withdraw Paragraph (2) of the April 5th
amendment to AB2000 which mandates that "A dog exempt from the canine antirabies
vaccination shall be kept quarantined, as directed by the local health officer,
until the dog's medical condition has resolved and the administration of the
canine antirabies vaccine occurs." This amendment seeks to address a public
health threat which does not exist in the canine community, and which will, if
passed, pose a life-threatening risk to dogs whose health is already
compromised.
California's Department of Public Health (CDPH) statistics clearly
demonstrate that bats and other wildlife pose the greatest rabies threat to the
public, not dogs. From 2001 through 2008, the CDPH reported 2 cases of human
rabies contracted in the state, both of which were transmitted by bats.
Further, according to data contained in the annual Reported Animal Rabies by
County and Species issued by the CDPH, from the period of 2001 through May 7,
2010, (throughout which time all counties had been designated "rabies areas"),
dogs were among the species with the least number of rabies cases in
California. During the cited surveillance period 1,440 bats, 462 skunks, 74
foxes, 11 cats, and 5 dogs were reported as rabid.
The Center for Disease Control documented 32 cases of
domestically-contracted cases of human rabies in the U.S. from 1995 through 2008
- 30 illnesses were transmitted by bats, 1 by fox, and 1 by raccoon. Since
1995, there have been no reported cases of human rabies from exposure to an
indigenous dog in this country, and no demonstrated need exists for the
California Legislature to pass harsh rabies regulations targeting dogs.
Further, The Rabies Challenge Fund asks that the Committee strike
the following bolded, underlined language in the current law under Section
121690 (b) which is reiterated in AB2000 as follows: "(b) Every dog owner,
after his or her dog attains the age of four months, shall, at intervals of time
not more often than once a year, as may be prescribed by the department, procure
its vaccination by a licensed veterinarian with a canine antirabies vaccine
approved by, and in a manner prescribed by, the department, unless a licensed
veterinarian determines, on an annual basis, that the dog may have a potentially
lethal reaction to the canine antirabies vaccine. is currently immune
compromised or has a documented medical record of a preexisting condition,
including, but not limited to, an immune mediated disease, or a serious adverse
reaction to a prior canine antirabies vaccine."
Mandating rabies vaccinations more often than once every 3 years, even in
designated "rabies areas," goes against the recommendations of all the national
veterinary medical associations, including the American Veterinary Medical
Association [1] and the Center for Disease Control's National Association of
State Public Health Veterinarian's Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and
Control 2008 which 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."
Section 121690 (b) of the Health and Safety Code may violate California's
Consumer Protection Law by requiring pet owners to pay for a veterinary medical
procedure from which their animals derive no benefit and may be harmed. The
section of the law requiring biennial or annual rabies boosters in "rabies
areas" may have been intended to achieve enhanced immunity to the rabies virus
by giving the vaccine more often than the federal 3-year licensing standard,
but, more frequent vaccination than is required to fully immunize an animal will
not achieve further disease protection. Redundant rabies shots needlessly
expose dogs to the risk of adverse effects while obligating residents to pay
unnecessary veterinary medical fees. The American Veterinary Medical
Association's 2001 Principles of Vaccination state that "Unnecessary stimulation
of the immune system does not result in enhanced disease resistance, and may
increase the risk of adverse post-vaccination events."
The 3 year rabies vaccines currently licensed by the USDA for dogs all have a
minimum duration of immunity of 3 years proven by challenge studies (the
definitive standard in vaccine research) conducted according to the licensing
standards set forth in USDA Title 9 Part 113.209. Serological studies
performed by Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of
Veterinary Medicine show a minimum duration of immunity of 7 years. According
to the Center for Disease Control, "A fully vaccinated dog or cat is unlikely to
become infected with rabies.. In a nationwide study of rabies among dogs and
cats in 1988,..no documented vaccine failures occurred among dogs or cats that
had received two vaccinations. " [2]
Immunologically, the rabies vaccine is the most potent of the veterinary
vaccines and 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.
A "killed" vaccine, the rabies vaccine contains adjuvants to enhance the
immunological response. In 1999, the World Health Organization "classified
veterinary vaccine adjuvants as Class III/IV carcinogens with Class IV being the
highest risk,"[7] and the results of a study published in the August 2003
Journal of Veterinary Medicine documenting fibrosarcomas at the presumed
injection sites of rabies vaccines stated, "In both dogs and cats, the
development of necrotizing panniculitis at sites of rabies vaccine
administration was first observed by Hendrick & Dunagan (1992)." [8] According
to the 2003 AAHA Guidelines, "...killed vaccines are much more likely to cause
hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., immune-mediated disease)." [9]
On behalf of The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust and the many concerned
California pet owners who have requested our assistance, I strongly urge you to
withdraw Paragraph (2) of the April 5th amendment to AB2000 and strike the
language in the current law cited in the bill authorizing the CDPH to impose
annual or biennial rabies boosters in "rabies areas."
Sincerely,
Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
THE RABIES CHALLENGE FUND
www.RabiesChallengeFund.org
ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com
cc: W. Jean Dodds, DVM
Ronald D. Schultz, PhD
Assembly Member Curt Hagman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] American Veterinary Medical Association, Veterinary Biologics, June 2007,
"Rabies Vaccination Procedures"
[2] Immunization Practices Advisory Committee, Rabies Prevention-United States,
1991 Recommendations of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee, Center
for Disease Control Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report March 22,
1991/40(RR03);1-19
[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] IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans: Volume
74, World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Feb.
23-Mar. 2, 1999, p. 24, 305, 310.
[8] 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.
[9] 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.
Gary Krasner, Director
Coalition For Informed Choice
188-34 87th Drive, Suite 4B
Holliswood, NY 11423
718-479-2939
CFIC@nyct.net
www.CFIC.us
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DISCLAIMER:
I'm neither a lawyer nor medical physician. It should not be construed from any
materials I distribute that I'm dispensing legal or medical advice.