“The best defense is a good offense” when it comes to disease prevention.
Drawing from the old cliché, a horse’s best defense against infectious disease is immunization. Horses are vaccinated against a whole alphabet soup of diseases, including EEE, WEE, rabies, tetanus, rhinopneumonitis, influenza, PHF, West Nile virus and strangles.
Immunization begins when horses are foals. The first time a foal receives a vaccine, its system mounts an immune response to substances in the vaccine called “antigens.” Antigens are similar or identical to the proteins expressed by the disease organism, but modified or inactivated so as to not cause illness and tested for safety and efficacy. Once the initial series of injections is given, immunizations are repeated several weeks later in order to boost the immune response and stimulate full protection. Thereafter, most vaccines are administered at yearly intervals to keep the horse’s system primed. Vaccines against the viral respiratory diseases frequently passed on at horse shows, racetracks, and large stables are usually given several times a year to horses that travel and compete. Most vaccines are given via intramuscular injections, while those for influenza and strangles can be given intranasally or via injection.
The scientific community has been taking a closer look at the timing of vaccinations for horses. The American Association of Equine Practitioners has assembled a committee to issue updated national recommendations on vaccine use. One of the committee’s experts is Dr. Wendy Vaala, who lectured on foals at the 1999 GVEC Horse Health Seminar. Dr. Vaala told us that the committee’s new vaccination schedule recommendations are as follows:
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