Vaccination Guidelines – Developing a Vaccination Plan
Mark Russell, Assistant Professor - Equine, UofA
A vaccination plan is an essential part of horse ownership. Disease prevention should be considered by every horse owner, regard less of whether the horse(s) leave home at any time. The following is some useful information to consider.
A “standard” vaccination program for all horses does not exist. Each individual situation requires evaluation based on the following criteria:
Risk of disease (anticipated exposure, environmental factors, geographic factors, age, breed, use and sex of the horse).
Consequences of the disease (morbidity/mortality, zoonotic potential).
Anticipated effectiveness of the selected product(s).
Potential for adverse reactions to a vaccine(s).
Cost of immunization (time, labor and vaccine costs) vs. potential cost of disease (time out of competition; impact of movement restrictions imposed in order to con trol an outbreak of contagious disease; labor and medication if, or when, horses develop clinical disease and require treatment; or loss of life).
As a horse owner, your best bet is to contact your local veterinarian and discuss what type of program is the most suitable for your horse. The above list details factors that can affect the individual situation of your horse. Planning ahead of time with a viable list of considerations is important to the success of protecting your horse.
Keep in mind that the use of antibody titers or other immunological measurements to determine if a booster vaccination is warranted is not currently practiced in the horse as standardized tests, and protective levels of immunity have not been defined in most cases. A correlation between antibody levels and protective immunity under field conditions has not yet been identified.
Horse owners should have realistic expectations and understand that:
Vaccination alone, in the absence of good management practices directed at infection control, is not sufficient for the prevention of infectious disease.
Vaccination serves to minimize the risks of infection but cannot prevent disease in all circumstances.
The primary series of vaccines and booster doses should be appropriately administered prior to likely exposure.
Each horse in a population is not protected to an equal degree nor for an equal duration following vaccination.
Protection is not immediately afforded the patient after administration of a vaccine that is designed to induce active immunity. In most instances, a priming series of multiple doses of a vaccine must be administered initially for that vaccine to induce protective active immunity.
All horses in a herd should be vaccinated at intervals based on the professional opinion of the attending veterinarian.
Ideally, the same schedule is followed for all horses in a population, thus simplifying record keeping, minimizing replication and transmission of infectious agents in a herd and indirectly protecting those horses in the herd that responded poorly to vaccination, thereby optimizing herd immunity.
A properly administered, licensed product should not be assumed to provide complete protection during any given field epidemic.
Although rare, there is potential for adverse reactions despite appropriate handling and administration of vaccines.
With proper management practices and planning ahead, the horse owner can better position himself for success. The AAEP suggests the following vaccinations for adult horses. (Many of these can vary depending on history of vaccination and if broodmare. Please consult with your local veterinarian.)
Anthrax – annual. Not recommended during gestation for broodmares and should not be administered concurrently with antibiotics.
Botulism – annual.
Equine Herpesvirus (EHV) – annual.
Influenza – Horse with ongoing risk of exposure: semiannual. Horses at low risk of exposure: annual.
Potomac Horse Fever – semiannual to annual.
Rotavirus (Broodmares) – three-dose series. First dose at 8 months gestation; second and third doses at 4-week intervals thereafter.
Tetanus
Rabies
West Nile
Special thanks to The American Association of Equine Practitioners for their knowledge, expertise and willingness to contribute.