Rabies Vaccine Challenge Study Needs Donations

[laurie etc]

Just passing this along - A worthy cause for anyone looking for a tax deductible way to double the bang for your buck! Laurie

 

RABIES CHALLENGE FUND

 

$20,000 MATCHING PLEDGE

 

 

Two anonymous donors have generously pledged to match all donations of $100 or more to The Rabies Challenge Fund up to $20,000 from May 1st through November 1st. The Fund is more than halfway towards reaching its immediate goal of $177,000 to cover the two concurrent challenge studies’ first year expenses so the research can begin.

 

 

The donors state that, “We are unabashed dog lovers and will do anything in our power to promote their health, longevity and overall well-being. That is the reason we have established a $20,000 matching gift program for the Rabies Challenge Fund. If you believe, as we do and as W. Jean Dodds, DVM, has stated, that “Rabies is the vaccine most associated with adverse reactions because it’s so potent”, then please support this initiative, particularly now so that your $100.00 or more donation will be doubled.”

 

 

 

The Rabies Challenge Fund Charitable Trust is a 501 © (3) tax-exemption organization founded by pet vaccine disclosure advocate Kris L. Christine of Maine in 2005 to finance 5 and 7 year long-term duration of immunity challenge studies on the canine rabies vaccine. Two world-renowned giants of veterinary vaccine research -- Dr. W. Jean Dodds of Hemopet and Co-Trustee of The Rabies Challenge Fund and Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine -- have volunteered their time to ensure this important research is conducted in the United States. The vaccine studies will be performed by Dr. Schultz at the University of Wisconsin according to USDA vaccine licensing requirements.

 

 

 

“This matching pledge offers a marvelous opportunity to reach our goal soon and begin the study!” Dr. Dodds stated.

 

 

 

The concurrent vaccine studies will determine the duration of immunity conveyed by the canine rabies vaccine, with the goal of extending the state-mandated interval for boosters to 5, and then to 7 years. Scientific data suggest that vaccinating dogs against rabies every three years, as most states require, is unnecessary. Studies have shown the duration of protective immunity as measured by serum antibody titers against rabies virus to persist up to seven years post-vaccination, and results of a 1992 French challenge study led by Michel Aubert demonstrated dogs were immune to rabies five years after vaccination. Researchers believe the rabies vaccine can cause adverse reactions in animals and concur that it should not be given more often than is necessary to maintain immunity. Adverse reactions to rabies vaccination can include 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.

 

 

Fund founder and Co-Trustee, Kris Christine, noted that, "This generous $20,000 matching pledge presents pet owners with a wonderful opportunity to double their contributions of $100 or more to help get the studies underway as soon as possible. The USDA does not require manufacturers to conduct long-term duration of immunity studies on canine vaccines, so rabies immunization laws reflect the minimum, not the maximum time for which vaccination confers immunity. Vaccine manufacturers lack the financial incentives to conduct this research, thus it is up to concerned pet owners to fund these studies to determine whether state laws require their dogs to be overvaccinated against rabies as current scientific data indicates."

 

 

 

More information on The Rabies Challenge Fund and the concurrent 5 and 7 year challenge studies it will finance can be found at the fund’s website designed by volunteer Andrea Brin at: www.RabiesChallengeFund.org. To hear Animal Talk Naturally’s April 25th 2007 interview with Dr. W. Jean Dodds and Kris L. Christine The Vaccine Challenge, click on

http://www.animaltalknaturally.com:80/2007...llenge-show-91/ .