Re: Vaccinations

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Not to get into a mini-lecture on immunology, but yes, the foal will get it's initial 'immunity' via the mare's colostrum, and the antibodies in the colostrum from the mare.  The specific antibodies from the mare are in response to whatever disease pathogens she has been exposed to---tetanue, clostridium, EHV, whatever.  Some of those exposures might have come along naturally---a mild virus that wandered through the barn on its own, or via a killed/modified bug the mare was exposed to through her vaccinations.  Whatever she's exposed to, assuming it isn't something so virulent it kills her, she'll mount an immune response to, and depending on a couple of different factors, she'll pass that immune response via antibodies through the colostrum to the foal, giving the foal the same basic immune response tools she's been given.

 

So the point of vaccinating the mare during pregnancy is to 1) protect her specifically against diseases that can directly harm the growing fetus and 2) ensure that she's mounted a good immune response specifically against the diseases in the area so that her colostrum has a good density of antibodies when the foal nurses.

 

I can tell you this---last summer I spent a whole bunch of time out in the isolation wards of the Colorado State vet hospital helping look after a dozen foals, all from one breeder who didn't believe in vaccinating mares, about half of whom died from infections that could have been prevented.  I don't breed much, just three babies in eleven years that are all still with me, but you wouldn't catch me skipping appropriate vaccinations (which differ from area to area) during pregnancy for nuthin.

 

Just my two cents.

 

Susan G

----- Original Message -----

From: BE

To: Ridecamp

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 1:31 PM

Subject: RC: Vaccinations

Would some of the experienced breeders on the list give me your opinions of the necessity/advisability  of vaccinating pregnant mares for the benefit of the foal's immunity?  I thought that a foal naturally obtained its first immunities from the mare.  However, I'm being advised by my vet to give the mare a series of vaccinations for the immunity they will provide the foal at birth. 

 

I'm hesitant about this since I'm one who uses very few drugs/vaccines with my horses, and routinely vaccinate only for tetanus and encephalitis strains.

 

Thanks,

Betty Edgar