BunnyVac Pasteurella Vaccine Update

Basically, I have nothing to report.. and that's a good thing!

I vaccinated my whole herd in November, gave them booster shots in December, and it has been more than another month since without any problems. I joined the Rabbit pasteurella vaccine group on Facebook and have been reading pretty much the same results for other breeders/breeds across the nation. One person said they had sterile abscesses develop at the injection site, though in the discussion, it came out that technique was questionable and there was a concern the vaccine had been injected into muscle instead of just under the skin (subcutaneously). Here is a link to information on how to properly give this vaccine:

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Inject/inject_en.htm

 There have also been a handful of folks that have had snotty rabbits develop after vaccinating and the thought is that the stimulation to the immune system is causing some carrier rabbits (already infected rabbits with no symptoms) to show the active disease (become symptomatic). I actually think that is a good thing because carriers are a real menace with this disease, hiding in plain site with the potential to infect all of the rabbits around them. To clarify, it is NOT possible for the vaccine to give rabbits Pasteurella.

There was a recent discussion on the aforementioned group about breeding for a "strong" immune system, which I know is very controversial. I've also said before that I used to believe in it as well, but no longer do. All evidence is to the contrary on every research/scholarly article that I can find, though some breeders still devoutly believe this and state they will not even buy vaccinated stock. I don't really sell rabbits these days, but I have added to my terms page that I vaccinate all breeding/show stock with BunnyVac so there is no misunderstanding.

I recognize that it can be hard to amend our ways after believing something for a long time, but sometimes that is the price we pay for progress. I can think of a million examples, but here is one related to health: doctors didn't used to wash their hands before procedures because they didn't believe that they could be spreading illness. Eventually a doctor noticed that there seemed to be a correlation between dirty hands and women dying of infections after childbirth. He started washing his hands and making his staff wash their hands. Infection/death rates dropped dramatically. Despite the overwhelming evidence, the doctor encountered resistance everywhere he went. Doctors resented him because they felt he was implying that they (the other doctors) were causing these poor mothers to die. Dr. Semmelweis lost his job and eventually also died young at 47 (of sepsis- the very thing he was trying so hard to prevent in his patients!). After his death, the rest of the world revisited his work and found that he had been doing the right thing all along. Hand-washing is now the gold-standard for healthcare. If you made it this far in the post, I could argue that the anti-vaccine movement in rabbits is similar. Ultimately, though, it is up to each individual to decide which is better for them. Handwashing or not? Vaccinating or not? You decide. :)

The scientist (Robert Glass) working on this project also responded to concerns that breeders won't be breeding for "strong" immune systems anymore by posting, "I think the chances of developing a Pasteurella resistant strain by selective breeding of Pasteurella "survivors" has a very low chance of success. With infection rates 25-75% in many or most herds it is hard to imagine that a resistant line would have been discovered by now if it were possible. It may be possible to develop lines that are more tolerant of the infection (i.e. less symptomatic) but completely resistant to infection appears to be impossible. The theory of Acquired Inherited Immunity is that in some diseases a surviving male or female is able to pass the immunity they developed during infection to their offspring. IF THIS OCCURS it is in a minority of diseases and the ones I have read about are viral not bacterial. In the case of Pasteurella rabbits that "stronger" immune systems will benefit more from the vaccine as they can elaborate a protective immunity without infection."

The verdict: I plan to keep vaccinating all of my breeding/show stock from here forward.

I encourage others to do their own homework and make their own decisions. I'm happy to answer any questions, but ultimately the decision on whether to vaccinate or not has to be what is best for each individual rabbitry. I know I am biased after losing prized animals that I poured my heart, time, and wallet into and I am just thankful that something has finally been created to protect my herd from having this happen again. Hope the information over the past few months has been helpful!