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Shortage Of Rabies Vaccine


SkySoaringMagpie
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A friend in WA has three overseas orders that are at risk because she's been told by her AQIS vet that there is no rabies vaccine to be had for love or money in Australia, and that it will be January at the earliest, probably March until some is available.

I'm not an AQIS vet but I work in another area of international trade and find it weird that a regional shortage caused by the Indonesian rabies crisis would affect say, supplies from the USA?? Or does the vaccine have to be AQIS registered on the way in to Australia or something? Could she not just get her AQIS vet to fax a script to the USA and get it shipped direct to Australia? Google is not helping, most of the rabies vaccine articles seem to be pretty dated.

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Yes as stated above there is a major shortage at present.

It is a really bad time if you are flying dogs out to countries that require the vaccine prior to departure, best of luck to those that are and I hope you can secure the vaccine in time. :mad:):laugh:

Edited by Stolzseinrotts
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Yes as stated above there is a major shortage at present.

It is a really bad time if you are flying dogs out to countries that require the vaccine prior to departure, best of luck to those that are and I hope you can secure the vaccine in time. :mad:):laugh:

I wonder if you can import the vaccine through another country and have it sent to a vet for use? I realise its a Sched 8 drug and the strict requirements but dioes anyone know of any short cuts to get the vaccine here ? Happy to pay whatever it takes to get some here!

Thanks in advance ?

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There has been an out break of Rabies and all the vaccine available has been call in for urgent use which has left Australia and New Zealand's stock sadly depleted.

Sorry, :mad where had this outbreak occurred oakway? Indonesia?

It would be a terrible thing for this disease to get into Australia, our Quarantine laws have not been up to scratch or kept in line with the increase of overseas travel. We have been fortunate so far.

This became very evident with the horse flu outbreak a couple of years ago.

I wonder if our Fruit bats would carry rabies or if it is limited to omnivores and carnivores??

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I heard it on the news and the announcer said South ?????????? some where. I have forgotten but I did take it to be somewhere in South America or South Africa.

Evidently an exceptionally bad out break.

That does leave those exporting with a worrying problem then.

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I heard it on the news and the announcer said South ?????????? some where. I have forgotten but I did take it to be somewhere in South America or South Africa.

Evidently an exceptionally bad out break.

That does leave those exporting with a worrying problem then.

Yes it may pose a problem for those exporting.

Now it will depend on where the dog is going.

If quarantine regulations have not changes for USA it should not be a problem.

When I last read those (yonks ago now) the dog could be done by the new owner in the states. Many times it was said it was better to have them done there because of all the paper work involved and their state laws.

The rest of the world could pose a problem though.

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None of the dogs that were exported to me in Canada required a rabies shot prior to leaving. It was MY responsibility to do this when they got to Canada and it was on an honour system that it was done. The last dog to be imported by me happened in April of 2008, so not that long ago.

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100 people have died from rabies in Bali in the last 2 years, so vets from Australia and NZ are doing mass vaccinations up there to get the situation under control and possibly save some people from suffering.

More info here.

It's bad that there is now a shortage of the vaccine in Australia but if we weigh up the inconvenience versus the cost of human life, I know which way I fall.

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If there's a shortage, I don't see why they don't just place an order. Jeffers appears to have rabies vaccine in stock....

http://www.jefferspet.com/vaccines/c/10025/start/16/

I have a feeling that the importation of rabies vaccine is controlled, so that one one or two companies can bring it in. I also suspect that it would take time to get the paperwork sorted. Are they slack? Yes! If a whole load of the vaccine was taken to Indonesia by Aus/NZ vets then they should be bringing in more.

Maybe we should find who brings the vaccine in and ask why they haven't arranged for more to be imported.

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The shortage of Rabies vaccine is due to the Australia and New Zealand governments being asked to provide all available vaccine to Indonesia to help as people are dying due to an extreme rabies outbreak.

Rabies vaccine apparently takes a while to produce, apparently stock is sent to Australia and New Zealand at the end of the Northern Hemisphere's summer when the rabies level drops there. Also the number of laboratories licence to produce rabies vaccination is limited, as all rabies vaccines have to be protected from become "biological weapons".

The research my daughter has been doing has also been held up due to the shortage of rabies vaccinations, this is why I am lucky to have the information.

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I wonder if our Fruit bats would carry rabies or if it is limited to omnivores and carnivores??

You might be thinking of the Australian Bat Lyssavirus. It is closely related to rabies and can be carried by bats within Australia - fruit bats and insectivorous ones. It is transferrable to any other mammal, including humans - by bat scratch or bite. Prevention is with normal rabies vaccine.

Wazzat and SSM there would likely be more stocks in the US where it is used more widely. Perhaps it could be sourced from there?

There was a decent supply in the ACT last year when there was a bat population boom, with hospitals, doctors and vets. I don't know if there would still be some around or if it may have been recalled to this overseas emergency. :rofl:

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I wonder if our Fruit bats would carry rabies or if it is limited to omnivores and carnivores??

You might be thinking of the Australian Bat Lyssavirus. It is closely related to rabies and can be carried by bats within Australia - fruit bats and insectivorous ones. It is transferrable to any other mammal, including humans - by bat scratch or bite. Prevention is with normal rabies vaccine.

Wazzat and SSM there would likely be more stocks in the US where it is used more widely. Perhaps it could be sourced from there?

There was a decent supply in the ACT last year when there was a bat population boom, with hospitals, doctors and vets. I don't know if there would still be some around or if it may have been recalled to this overseas emergency. :rofl:

Yes I think some people are confusing the two, thanks for the info.

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