This is the official statement from the Rabbit Welfare Association regarding the new vaccine.
We are still getting enquiries about the new combined
Myxi and RHD vaccine. The main concern expressed with the vaccine is the
potential lack of protection against Rabbit Viral Haemorrhagic Disease Virus,
in rabbits vaccinated with the new vaccine, if they have been previous
vaccinated recently against myxomatosis, or have been infected with it and
recovered.
This has been raised as a concern because some
rabbits which had received previous Myxomatosis vaccination in trials in
continental Europe did not develop immunity against RHD following vaccination
with the Myxo_RHD vaccine. The vaccines used predominantly there are based on
the myxomatosis virus, whereas the current one used here is based on Shope
Fibroma Virus. This has led to some uncertainty until recently as to the level
of protection so obtained, and the best vaccination protocol to be used in
rabbits that have had previous vaccinations.
Recent work has been collated by the
manufacturers, and demonstrates that at lower levels of vaccine content, there
is not sufficient protection. However, at the levels that the vaccine contains,
the vast majority of rabbits developed antibody levels that are protective
against RHD. The vaccine is also known to produce cell immunity, in addition to
antibody levels, which cannot be measured by blood tests, and these results are
typical of an effective vaccine as used in other species.
The only way to examine the vaccine effectiveness
further would be to perform challenge studies. This would entail taking
vaccinated and unvaccinated animals and deliberately subjecting them to RHD
virus, which would kill the unprotected ones. For ethical reasons this is not
ideal, and would perhaps be especially unfortunate since the new vaccine has
been made without the need to culture the virus in live rabbit liver, as is
necessary with previous RHD vaccines.
Without wishing to endorse a specific product, we
feel that vaccination against these 2 killer diseases is an important part of
rabbit preventative health. Any tool which allows us to prevent death and
suffering, especially when this is made easier and therefore more practical to
achieve, by only involving one visit to the vets per year, is to be welcomed.
We will be covering this in more detail in the
next issue of Rabbiting On, due out early May - to make sure you don't miss
your copy please join and support our work, because A hutch is not enough:
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/join/index.php
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