Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / December 2007

The Rabies Challenge Fund is pleased to announce that the
canine
rabies challenge studies have begun!!!  Permission is granted to
post
and cross-post the text of our press release below.

Regards,  Kris L. Christine
Founder, Co-Trustee
The Rabies Challenge Fund
http://www.RabiesChallengeFund.org

CANINE RABIES CHALLENGE STUDIES BEGIN !

            One of the most important vaccine research studies in
veterinary medicine is underway at the University of Wisconsin
School
of Veterinary Medicine in Madison.  Dr. Ronald Schultz, a leading
authority on veterinary vaccines and Chair of the Department of
Pathobiological Sciences, has begun concurrent 5 and 7 year
challenge
studies to determine the long-term duration of immunity of the
canine
rabies vaccine, with the goal of extending the state-mandated
interval for boosters.  These will be the first long-term challenge
studies on the canine rabies vaccine to be published in the United
States.

 Dr. Schultz comments that: "We are all very excited to start this
study that will hopefully demonstrate that rabies vaccines can
provide a minimum of 7 years of immunity."

            This research is being financed by The Rabies Challenge
Fund, a charitable trust founded by pet vaccine disclosure advocate
Kris L. Christine of Maine, who serves as Co-Trustee with world-
renowned veterinary research scientist and practicing clinician, Dr.
W. Jean Dodds of Hemopet in California.  The Rabies Challenge Fund
recently met its goal of $177,000 to fund the studies' first year
budget with contributions from dog owners, canine groups, trainers,
veterinarians, and small businesses.  Annual budget goals of
$150,000
for the studies must be met in the future.

            Dr. Jean Dodds, DVM states: "This is the first time in
my 43 years of involvement in veterinary issues that what started as
a grass-roots effort to change an outmoded regulation affecting
animals will be addressed scientifically by an acknowledged expert
to
benefit all canines in the future."

Scientific data published in 1992 by Michel Aubert and his research
team demonstrated that dogs were immune to a rabies challenge 5
years
after vaccination, while Dr. Schultz's serological studies
documented
antibody titer counts at levels known to confer immunity to rabies 7
years post-vaccination.   This data strongly suggests that state
laws
requiring annual or triennial rabies boosters for dogs are
redundant.  Because the rabies vaccine is the most potent of the
veterinary vaccines and associated with significant adverse
reactions, it should not be given more often than is necessary to
maintain immunity.  Adverse reactions such 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 linked
to rabies vaccinations.

Study co-trustee Kris Christine adds: "Because the USDA does not
require vaccine manufacturers to provide long-term duration of
immunity studies documenting maximum effectiveness when licensing
their products, concerned dog owners have contributed the money to
fund this research themselves.  We want to ensure that rabies
immunization laws are based upon independent, long-term scientific
data."

            More information and regular updates on The Rabies
Challenge Fund and the concurrent 5 and 7 year challenge studies it
is financing can be found at the fund's website designed by
volunteer
Andrea Brin at:  www.RabiesChallengeFund.org.

Regards