Rabies continues to be a threat not only to pets, but to people around the world as well. Prevention of rabies in cats continues to be important for reducing the risk of transmission to humans. A non-adjuvanted rabies vaccine with a one-year duration of immunity claim is available for cats. The duration of immunity may be longer than one year, but has not been investigated until now. These researchers evaluated the level of immunity as determined by measurement of antibody levels to the rabies virus as well as challenge with the virus. Cats were evaluated after immunization as kittens, at one year of age, and three years after the one year booster. All cats were protected against rabies challenge three years after the last booster. This study shows a much longer duration of immunity from the non-adjuvanted canarypox-vectored vaccine than previously thought. [MK]
See also: European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases: Feline rabies