WSAVA Guidelines for the Vaccination of Dogs and Cats

The WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines Group (VGG) was convened in order to develop guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats that have global application. The first version of these guidelines was published in 2007. A survey of WSAVA member nations has indicated the important role these guidelines have played globally. They have been adopted as national policy in some countries where such guidelines did not previously exist, and have been used by other countries as a basis for development of national guidelines. The present document provides an updated and expanded version of these international guidelines for the vaccination of small companion animals. The VGG recognizes that the keeping of pet small animals is subject to significant variation in practice and associated economics throughout the world, and that vaccination recommendations that might apply to a developed country, may not be appropriate for a developing country. Despite this, the VGG strongly recommends that wherever possible ALL dogs and cats receive the benefit of vaccination. This not only protects the individual animal, but provides optimum 'herd immunity' that minimizes the likelihood of an infectious disease outbreak. With this background in mind, the VGG has defined core vaccines which ALL dogs and cats, regardless of circumstances, should receive. Core vaccines protect animals from severe, life-threatening diseases that have global distribution. Core vaccines for dogs are those that protect from canine distemper virus (CDV), canine adenovirus (CAV) and canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2). Core vaccines for cats are those that protect from feline parvovirus (FPV), feline calicivirus (FCV) and feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1). In areas of the world where rabies virus infection is endemic, vaccination against this agent should be considered core for both species, even if there is no legal requirement for routine vaccination. The VGG recognizes that maternally derived antibody (MDA) significantly interferes with the efficacy of most current core vaccines administered to pups and kittens in early life. As the level of MDA varies significantly among litters, the VGG recommends the administration of three vaccine doses to pups and kittens, with the final dose of these being delivered at 14–16 weeks of age or above. In cultural or financial situations where a pet animal may only be permitted the benefit of a single vaccination, that vaccination should be with core vaccines at 16 weeks of age or above. The VGG supports the development and use of simple in-practice tests for determination of seroconversion (antibody) following vaccination. Vaccines should not be given needlessly. Core vaccines should not be given any more frequently than every three years after the 12 month booster injection following the puppy/kitten series, because the duration of immunity (DOI) is many years and may be up to the lifetime of the pet. The VGG has defined non-core vaccines as those that are required by only those animals whose geographical location, local environment or lifestyle places them at risk of contracting specific infections. The VGG has also classified some vaccines as not recommended (where there is insufficient scientific evidence to justify their use) and has not considered a number of minority products which have restricted geographical availability or application. The VGG strongly supports the concept of the 'annual health check' which removes the emphasis from, and client expectation of, annual revaccination. The annual health check may still encompass administration of selected non-core vaccines which should be administered annually, as the DOI for these products is generally one year or less. The VGG has considered the use of vaccines in the shelter environment, again recognizing the particular nature of such establishments and the financial constraints under which they operate. The VGG minimum shelter guidelines are simple: that all dogs and cats entering such an establishment should be vaccinated before, or at the time of entry, with core vaccines only. Where finances permit, repeated core vaccination should be administered as per the schedules defined in the guidelines. The VGG recognizes the importance of adverse reaction reporting schemes but understands that these are variably developed in different countries. Wherever possible, veterinarians should be actively encouraged to report all possible adverse events to the manufacturer and/or regulatory authority to expand the knowledge base that drives development of improved vaccine safety. These fundamental concepts proposed by the VGG may be encapsulated in the following statement: We should aim to vaccinate every animal with core vaccines, and to vaccinate each individual less frequently by only giving non-core vaccines that are necessary for that animal. The WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines Group (VGG) was convened in 2006 with the responsibility of producing global vaccination guidelines for dogs and cats that would consider international differences in economic and societal factors that impact on the keeping of these small companion animals. They were launched at the 2007 WSAVA Congress and contemporaneously published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice (Day et al., 2007). English and Spanish versions were made publicly available on the WSAVA website. With recognition that this is a rapidly developing field of companion animal medicine, the VGG was reconvened in 2009 with the targets of (1) updating the 2007 guidelines for veterinarians and (2) preparing a new set of guidelines directed at the owners and breeders of dogs and cats. The VGG has met on three occasions during 2009–2010 and has had active electronic communication between these meetings. The present document represents the conclusion of the first target, and the VGG is well progressed towards the launch of owner-breeder guidelines in 2010. The first activity of this second phase of the VGG was to assess the impact of the 2007 guidelines on the international veterinary community. To achieve this goal, it developed a simple questionnaire that was circulated to all 70 WSAVA member countries through their WSAVA Assembly representatives. The following questions were asked: Were the 2007 guidelines widely available to veterinarians in your country? Were the 2007 guidelines discussed by your national small animal veterinary association? Does your national small animal veterinary association have its own guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats? If not, has your national small animal veterinary association adopted the WSAVA guidelines? Is there any significant conflict between the WSAVA guidelines and national practices in companion animal medical care? Each country that had its own vaccination guidelines was also asked to send a copy of these to the VGG. Responses were received from 27 countries, both from developed and developing nations. The 2007 guidelines were generally accessible by the veterinary community (for 18 of 27 respondents); where this was not the case, the reason was most often the unavailability of a translated version. Notably, the lack of computers and internet access in general practice was also flagged by some developing nations. The 2007 guidelines had been discussed by the small animal veterinary associations of 12 of 27 respondent countries. Thirteen of 27 respondent countries already had national guidelines in place or in the case of some smaller European countries had adopted those used by a larger neighbour. The VGG was privileged to be able to assess six of these national guidelines documents, which ranged from excellent succinct summaries to very detailed and substantial papers that provided solid background discussion of immunology and vaccination. The VGG was pleased to note that in 12 of 14 countries without vaccination guidelines, the national organizations had either fully adopted or recommended the WSAVA guidelines or were currently using them to develop their own national recommendations. It is also clear that in some countries, publication of the guidelines had precipitated discussion by national organizations that had sometimes been driven by pressure from the general public. Most respondents indicated a range of minor conflicts between the WSAVA guidelines and national practice, but these were not as great as anticipated. For example, many countries maintain legal annual revaccination for rabies, some countries do not have access to the full range of products listed in the guidelines (e.g. individual component products or extended DOI products), and others have specific national products from local manufacturers that are not globally available. The responses to this questionnaire underline the importance of global vaccination guidelines and of their current revision. The aim of this document is to update and extend the information given in the 2007 version; while much of the text and recommendations will remain the same, specific changes are: A clear indication of the purpose of a guidelines document. A discussion of passive immunization, in particular for canine distemper virus (CDV) infection. Preliminary assessment of vaccines for canine influenza virus (CIV), leishmaniosis and malignant melanoma. Discussion of differences in approach to feline upper respiratory virus (FHV-1 and FCV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) vaccination. Recommendations for sites of vaccination for cats. An update on cross-protection for canine parvovirus (CPV) 2c. A new fact sheet on rabies vaccines. An expanded list of 60 frequently asked questions (FAQs). Feedback suggested that this aspect of the 2007 guidelines document was particularly useful to practitioners. An image bank of major canine and feline vaccine-preventable diseases. The VGG believes that these images will be of great value to the practicing veterinarian during the 'vaccination interview' with clients. The images are freely available via the WSAVA website and provide visual evidence of the significance and severity of infectious diseases that may be prevented by vaccination. The images may be used in the consultation room whilst addressing the 'risk-benefit' of vaccination with pet owners. The VGG again acknowledges the important work undertaken by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) Canine Vaccine Task Force (Paul et al., 2006) and the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) Feline Vaccine Advisory Panel (Richards et al., 2006) in addressing companion animal vaccination issues. Since publication of the 2007 WSAVA guidelines, the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD) has also formulated recommendations for feline vaccination from the European perspective, and the work of this group has recently cumulated in publication of a special issue of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery (Horzinek and Thiry, 2009). In speaking to practitioner audiences about the 2007 guidelines it is clear that there is widespread confusion about their purpose. Many practitioners are initially alarmed that the recommendations appear contrary to those given on the product data sheet, and therefore feel that if they adopt guidelines recommendations, they are leaving themselves open to litigation. The distinct difference between a data sheet and guidelines document has been clearly discussed in a recent paper (Thiry and Horzinek, 2007). A data sheet (or 'summary of product characteristics'; SPC) is a legal document that forms part of the registration process for a vaccine. A data sheet will give details of the quality, safety and efficacy of a product and in the case of vaccines will describe the legal DOI of the product. The legal DOI is based on experimental evidence, represents a minimum value and need not reflect the true DOI of a vaccine. Most companion animal vaccines, until recently, had a 1 year DOI and carried a recommendation for annual revaccination. The sensible response of industry to recent discussions about vaccine safety has been to increasingly license products with an 'extended' (generally 3 year) DOI. However, for most core vaccines (see below) the true DOI is likely to be considerably longer. There are instances, where the guidelines may recommend a triennial vaccination with a product that still carries a 1 year licensed DOI. The simple reason for this is that the guidelines are based on current scientific knowledge and thinking, whereas the data sheet reflects the knowledge available at the time that the vaccine received its original license (which may be more than 20 years earlier). Consequently, guidelines advice will often differ from that given in the data sheet; however, any veterinarian may use a vaccine according to guidelines (and therefore current scientific thinking) by obtaining informed (and documented) owner consent for this deviation from legal recommendations ('off-label use'). Further confusion is often caused by company representatives who will advise, as they are legally obliged to do, that the veterinarian must adhere to the data sheet recommendation. A further point of confusion arises where veterinarians compare the recommendations given in different sets of guidelines. There are, for example, subtle differences in recommendations made in the USA and Europe that reflect differences in the opinions of local expert groups and in the perception of lifestyles of pet animals that may make them more or less exposed to infections. The VGG faces the difficult challenge of setting a middle-course through various national or regional guidelines. Its recommendations attempt to provide a balanced perspective to account for global differences in the keeping of small companion animals. In summary, veterinarians should feel comfortable about vaccinating according to the schedules given in these guidelines but should cross-reference these with local recommendations where available. Where the VGG recommendations differ from current legal requirements, the practitioner need only obtain informed client consent to provide that client, and the animal, with a current evidence-based vaccination schedule. If vaccination has been so successful, then why is it necessary to continually re-evaluate vaccination practice? There is little doubt that in most developed countries the major infectious diseases of dogs and cats are considered at best uncommon in the pet population, but there do remain geographical pockets of infection and sporadic outbreaks of disease occur, and the situation regarding feral or shelter populations is distinctly different to that in owned pet animals. However, in many developing countries these key infectious diseases remain as common as they once were in developed nations and a major cause of mortality in small animals. Although it is difficult to obtain accurate figures, even in developed countries it is estimated that only 30–50% of the pet animal population is vaccinated, and this is significantly less in developing nations. In small animal medicine, we have been slow to grasp the concept of 'herd immunity'–that vaccination of individual pet animals is important, not only to protect the individual, but to reduce the number of susceptible animals in the regional population, and thus the prevalence of disease. Herd immunity with the core vaccines that provide a long (many years) DOI is highly dependent on the percentage of animals in the population vaccinated and not the number of vaccinations that occur annually. Therefore, every effort should be made to vaccinate a higher percentage of cats and dogs with the core vaccines. A second major concept regarding vaccination of dogs and cats has been the recognition that we should aim to reduce the 'vaccine load' on individual animals in order to minimize the potential for adverse reactions to vaccine products. For that reason we have seen the development of vaccination guidelines based on a rational analysis of the vaccine requirements for each pet, and the proposal that vaccines be considered 'core' and 'non-core' in nature. To an extent this categorization of products has been based on available scientific evidence and personal experience – but concerted effort to introduce effective companion animal disease surveillance on a global scale would provide a more definitive basis on which to recommend vaccine usage. In parallel with the categorization of vaccines has been the push towards marketing products with extended DOI, to reduce the unnecessary administration of vaccines and thereby further improve vaccine safety. Both of these changes have necessitated a frame-shift in the mindset of veterinary practitioners in a culture in which both veterinarian and client have become subservient to the mantra of annual vaccination. The following VGG guidelines are prepared when considering the optimum model of a committed pet owner, willing and able to bring their animal to the veterinarian, for the full recommended course of vaccination. The VGG is aware that there are less committed pet owners and countries where severe financial or societal constraints will determine the nature of the vaccine course that will be administered. In situations where, for example, a decision must be made that an individual pet may have to receive only a single core vaccination during its lifetime, the VGG would emphasize that this should optimally be given at a time when that animal is most capable of responding immunologically, i.e. at the age of 16 weeks or greater. The VGG has additionally considered vaccination in the shelter situation. The guidelines that we have proposed are those that we consider provides the optimum level of protection for these highly susceptible animals. The VGG also recognizes that many shelters run with limited financial support which may constrain the extent of vaccination used. The minimum vaccination protocol in this situation would be a single administration of core vaccines at or before the time of admission to the shelter. This document seeks to address these current issues in canine and feline vaccinology, and to suggest practical measures by which the veterinary profession may move towards more rational use of vaccination in these species. The most important message of the VGG is therefore encapsulated in the following statement: We should aim to vaccinate every animal with core vaccines, and to vaccinate each individual less frequently by only giving non-core vaccines that are necessary for that animal. Guidelines and recommendations for core (recommended), non-core (optional), and not recommended vaccines for the general veterinary practice are given in Table 1. The VGG considers that a core vaccine is one that all puppies throughout the world must receive in order to provide protection against infectious diseases of global significance. The VGG recognizes that particular countries will identify additional vaccines that they consider core. A particular example of a vaccine that may be considered core in only some countries is that against rabies virus. In a geographical area in which this infection is endemic all dogs should be routinely vaccinated for the protection of both the pet and human populations. In some countries, mandatory rabies vaccination is a legal requirement, and is generally also required for international pet travel. Non-core vaccines are those that are licensed for the dog and whose use is determined on the basis of the animal's geographical and lifestyle exposure and an assessment of risk-benefit ratios. Not recommended vaccines are those for which there is little scientific justification for their use. Most pups are protected by MDA in the first weeks of life. In general, passive immunity will have waned by 8–12 weeks of age to a level that allows active immunization. Pups with poor MDA may be vulnerable (and capable of responding to vaccination) at an earlier age, while others may possess MDA at such high titres that they are incapable of responding to vaccination until ≥12 weeks of age. No single primary vaccination policy will therefore cover all possible situations. The recommendation of the VGG is for initial vaccination at 8–9 weeks of age followed by a second vaccination 3–4 weeks later, and a third vaccination given between 14–16 weeks of age. By contrast, at present many vaccine data sheets recommend an initial course of two injections. Some products are also licensed with a '10 week finish' designed such that the second of two vaccinations is given at 10 weeks of age. The rationale behind this protocol is to permit 'early socialization' of pups. The VGG recognizes that this is of great benefit to the behavioural development of dogs. Where such protocols are adopted, great caution should still be maintained by the owner – allowing restricted exposure of the pup to areas and only to other pups that are and fully The VGG recommends that possible a third dose of core vaccine be given at 14–16 weeks of age. In the repeated given to pups in their first year of do not They are to a primary response by the virus virus an animal of where it must to be by an and and In the case of vaccines, MDA may also with this process by to and the repeated doses are dogs should receive a first booster 12 after of the primary vaccination The VGG the protocol as the of the pup this first The 12 month booster will also immunity for dogs that may not have to the pup that have to vaccination with core vaccines maintain a solid immunity for many years in the of any vaccination. the 12 month are given at of 3 years or special It should be that the given do not generally apply to core vaccines to the vaccines, and particularly not to vaccines and but also virus more for an dog may still be annually, but the of these vaccinations may differ each core vaccines are currently administered with non-core products being given annually. The VGG is aware that in some countries only products core and non-core are available. The VGG would manufacturers to make a full range of vaccines available wherever An dog that had received a course of core vaccinations as a followed by the 12 month but may not have been vaccinated as an only a single dose of core vaccine to Many current data sheets will in this that the dog two vaccinations for a but this practice is and contrary to the fundamental of By contrast, this approach may be for an dog of vaccination and when has not been tests are useful for immunity to and rabies virus. for and are the tests of benefit in after the vaccination recent many have their for such There are legal requirements for rabies antibody for pet between some countries. will become more as as and are more widely available. A that the animal has little or no and that revaccination is Some of these dogs are in fact and their revaccination would be A on the other would to the conclusion that revaccination is not This is why must be provided by any With and/or an animal with a regardless of the should be considered as no antibody and susceptible to infection. of the at 14–16 weeks of age, an animal should have a provided the is 2 or more weeks after vaccination. animals should be and If it again tests it should be considered a that is incapable of developing for antibody is the only practical to that a has the Vaccines may for various This is the most common reason for vaccination However, when the vaccine dose is given at 14–16 weeks of age, MDA should have to a and active will in most puppies may reflect a range of factors from the of vaccine to administration to the animal. For example, the virus its or in the of a particular of product may be a cause of vaccine factors such as or and use) of the vaccine in the veterinary practice, may in of an product. If an animal to develop an antibody response after repeated it should be considered a is in other species, of dogs have been to be It is that the high to in and during the of their vaccination was to a high prevalence of In the USA these two to have no of to than other because of the may have from infection. Some dogs of these may be or to other For example, in the and the is for and rabies virus as recent have this to have a higher of animals to achieve the of rabies antibody required for pet travel. Most vaccinated dogs will have a of antibody core vaccine for many this antibody reflects the of a distinct population of of is the primary of vaccination. For core vaccines there is excellent between the of antibody and immunity and there is long DOI for these products. This not for many of the non-core vaccines and the DOI to these products more revaccination tests be used to the DOI after vaccination with core vaccines. It is that dogs often maintain antibody to and for three or more years and experimental support this Therefore, when antibody is of the the dog should be there is a medical basis for not so to other vaccine are of limited or no value because of the time these (e.g. or the lack of between antibody and protection (e.g. or canine in antibody tests are the and the time to obtain The VGG recognizes that at present such has limited availability and might be However, the of veterinary would that for antibody (for either pups or is a practice than a vaccine booster on the basis that this should be and In response to these more tests are being vaccination active infectious disease passive also has a from the first to available for human against and and against respiratory A and and Although virus both and it is the antibody response that to the of and In many virus antibody are therefore as of or directed against of on to the their and them for the or are and the