Vaccination Guidelines

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Vaccination Guidelines

These vaccination guidelines, are established from my research and observations, for horses that are resident of South-Central Alaska. Please consult your veterinarian for your region or travel outside of Alaska.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners best describes my vaccination advice in the following statement from their Principles of Vaccination web page:

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 control an outbreak of contagious disease; labor and medication if, or when, horses develop clinical disease and require treatment, or loss of life.)

The AAEP - Core Vaccination Guidelines identifies 4 vaccinations which are the foundation for all equine vaccine programs (Tetanus, Eastern / Western Equine Enciphalitis, West Nile Virus, Rabies) - . I have a web page outlining my research on WNV Virus in Alaska.

Of these four vaccines, Tetanus is the essential vaccine for our region.

At this point a complete medical history of the horse, stall or boarding facility requirements, exposure to transient horses, and owners concerns must be established to determine the vaccines used. In short a risk based analysis should be established prior to vaccine administration.