Story Highlights
- When three fully vaccinated horses tested positive for equine flu earlier in February, the British racing world was shut down for a week.
- After canceling all racing for six days and testing thousands of horses at hundreds of horse stables in England and Ireland, three more cases were identified at the original yard and four others were found at another site.
- The British Racing Authority subsequently strengthened vaccine mandates so that racehorses must be re-vaccinated within six months of racing.
When three fully vaccinated racehorses from one stable yard in Cheshire, England tested positive for equine flu, it caused more than a minor illness for the horses in question: It also shut down Britain’s high-stakes racing world for almost a week.1 Ordered by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the weeklong shutdown is expected to “cost the industry tens of millions of pounds.”
Equine flu is a highly contagious disease that affects horses, donkeys and mules. Caused by strains of the influenza A virus, the equine influenza infects the upper and lower respiratory system, causing symptoms such as high fever, a dry cough and nasal discharge—much like the flu in humans, though equine flu is not known to affect people. Although the disease is rarely fatal in generally healthy animals, it may rarely lead to complications in those that are very young or ailing, and some animals take weeks to months to fully recover.
In addition, according to the BHA, “the disease has an almost 100 percent infection rate in an unvaccinated horse population,” it can spread rapidly through populations of animals in close proximity to each other, such as in the racing circuit.
In an attempt to ward off the potential impact of an epidemic on the horseracing industry, a mandatory equine flu vaccination program is strictly regulated and enforced both in the thoroughbred racing circuit and for other exhibition animals.2
Equine Vaccination Requirements are Big Business
Racehorses are required to be vaccinated against equine flu on the following schedule3:
- Approved vaccinations against equine influenza must be given by a registered veterinary surgeon as two primary vaccinations, given from 21 to 92 days apart.
- If the schedule allows, a booster must be given between 150 and 215 days after the second shot in the primary series.
- If a booster is given too early, or even one day too late, the primary series must be repeated.
- No vaccinations may be given on the day a horse is racing, or for six days prior to the race.
Domino Effect of “Horse Zero”
When Donald McCain sent a horse to race on Feb. 6, 2019, more than 100 horses in his care were healthy, to the best of his knowledge. When three of his vaccinated horses tested positive for equine flu that evening, he notified the BHA, which moved rapidly to contain the outbreak. Ultimately, all races were cancelled to accommodate the three-day incubation period and testing of all horses in stables that had any runners at meetings where any of McCain’s horses had been.
The horses infected with equine flu in this current outbreak were fully vaccinated in compliance with vaccination mandates, leading to concerns that a new strain might have emerged that could very quickly spread through the racing circuit.
Amid such fears, thousands of horses from more than 100 stables with any potential for exposure to one of the McCain horses were swabbed and tested for the presence of influenza virus. In the end, three more horses from McCain’s stable and four from another site tested positive for the equine influenza virus.4
In response, the BHA strengthened vaccine mandates. As a condition of re-opening the racing circuit, any horse entered for a race now must have been vaccinated within six months of the event. Horses still may not race for seven days after vaccination.
The new ruling leaves some trainers scrambling to renew boosters. It has also resulted in some horses being disallowed from racing until they have been re-vaccinated and passed the mandatory seven-day wait period.
In a statement, BHA said, “The sport is taking a measured risk by returning to racing this quickly, and for that risk to be deemed manageable then it was necessary that protective measures should be put in place.”5
In Ireland, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has responded to the British outbreak (which directly affected some Irish horses that had raced in Britain during the outbreak) by similarly strengthening their own mandates for vaccinating racehorses against equine flu. No British horses will be allowed to race in Ireland “until further notice.”6
According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), there are several strains of equine influenza and vaccinating against one may not provide protections against others.7
The AAEP warns further that, “Immunity to the same (homologous) strain of virus following natural infection persists for approximately one year.
Immunity following vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccines can be short-lived, allowing recently vaccinated horses to become infected and shed virus, thereby contributing to maintenance and spread of infection within the equine population.” For these reasons, it cautions that the equine flu vaccine should include any relevant isolates, especially for horses traveling overseas.
The vaccinations are not mandated in the states but may be required by individual racing or show facilities.
References:
1 Wood G. Equine Flu Crisis: Biggest Shutdown Since Foot and Mouth Hits Horse Racing. The Guardian Feb. 7, 2019.
2 British Horseracing Authority. Equine Influenza FAQs. BritishHorseracing.com.
3 BHA. The Rules of Racing. BritishHorseRacing.com Jan. 1, 2018.
4 CNN NewSource. British Horse Racing Resumes After Equine Flu Outbreak. KVIA Feb. 12, 2019.
5 Sports Staff. New Vaccination Rules Enabled Racing To Resume After Flu Outbreak, Says British Horseracing Authority. The Independent Feb. 12, 2019.
6 Irish Field Contributor. Equine Flu: Clade 1 Vaccine Will Be Mandatory for All Racehorses. The Irish Field Feb. 8, 2019.
7 American Association of Equine Practitioners. Equine Influenza. AAEP.org 2018.
4 Responses
They will destroy these beautiful animals with neurotoxins. Their is not one study that shows the vaccine schedule works. Check out Dr David Brownstein, Dr Suzanne Humphrie or Work of Dr Frederick Klennar. What vaccines do is raise inflammation markers and destroys the horses own ability to make vitamin c. The other cause of immune crisis is EMF and 5 G. Animals are very sensitive to these energies; they are not able to cope with these frequencies.
I am appalled that this vaccination crap is being pushed on defenseless animals. Truth be known, it was probably the vaccinations themselves that started the epidemic.
I personally have STOPPED getting my pet most vaccines toted by Vets as necessary. I tried to get information regarding WHAT was in the vaccines only to be pushed off by my Vet to the Manufacturers for info, and then pushed back to my Vet to get the indo. BOTTOM LINE, NOBOBY WANTS TO TELL YOU WHAT IS IN THE VACCINES.
STOP THIS MADDNESS BEFORE YOU DESTROY THESE MAGNIFICIANT ANIMALS.
The best way to stay healthy is to stay away from AMA/CDC/FDA approved ‘medicine’!
https://radiology.ucsf.edu/patient-care/patient-safety/contrast/mri-with-contrast-gadolinium-policy
As if the vaccine arm (pun intended) of Big Pharma isn’t dangerous enough, watch and share this documentary about a new birth control device, and other medical devices:
http://bleedingedgedoc.com/about/
To find out ingredients in ANYTHING, type “pubmed” or “pubchem” (without quotations), with your search. That is where medical journals, case studies, abstracts & articles live.
When I became aware of how TOXIC & COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY vaccines are in 1999, I never vaccinated another pet again, & my pets continue to be healthy, when one has gotten sick, homeopathy has been so amazing, if plants weren’t ORIGINALLY what medicine was made of before they turned synthetic & filled with side-effects, i would think it was miracle-medicine.
After my 2 separate dog-at-large incidents, which, of course, included the no-license factor, I would have paid the at-large penalty fee, however, since I refuse to inject poison into my beloved dogs, acquiring a city license is impossible, so, a court appearance is enevitable. Arming myself with copies of these facts listed below, along with copies of scientific proof of vaccine toxicity from “pubmed”, worked both times. NO ONE could read them & defend vaccines afterward, at least not in front of an audience. Anyone who knows this info & defends vaccines are simply evil.
1. Aluminium
Aluminum is the most common adjuvant in veterinary vaccines. Aluminum is linked to the degeneration of the brain and nervous system. It can also cause neurological dysfunction. It promotes brain inflammation, oxidative damage, reduces the levels of brain antioxidants (i.e., glutathione) and disturbs calcium homeostasis. In the immature and developing brain, it might lead to a number of neurodevelopmental conditions in humans, such as seizures. In the mature (especially the aging brain), these mechanisms can lead to progressive neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer’s disease and ALS. Alzheimers disease is caused by plaque formation in the brain and chemical analysis shows an aluminum core at the root of each plaque.
Research at UC Davis in California suggests up to 39% of aging dogs have at least one sign of dementia. The dogs had the same plaques as Alzheimer’s patients. Leading immunologist Hugh Fudenberg MD, says that humans who received five flu vaccinations between 1970 and 1980 are ten times more likely to get Alzheimer’s Disease than those who had only one or two shots. Fudenberg attributes this to aluminum and mercury, which almost every flu vaccine contains. The gradual accumulation of aluminum and mercury in the brain leads to cognitive dysfunction.
To learn more about how aluminum creates neurological disorders, read Dr Russell Blaylock’s recent contribution to Current Inorganic Chemistry.
2. Thimerosal
This mercury based additive has been used as a preservative for decades – and apparently the extreme neurotoxicity that mercury in general and Thimerosal in particular have also been known for decades.
In 1935, Eli Lilly (the creator of Thimerosal), was contacted by veterinary vaccine manufacturer Pittman-Moore after they declared Thimerosal as completely safe. Pittman-Moore wrote to them:
“We have obtained marked local reaction in about 50% of the dogs injected with serum containing dilutions of Merthiolate (Thimerosal). Merthioiate is unsatisfactory as a preservative for serum intended for use on dogs.” (Director of Biological Services, Pittman-Moore Company, letter to Dr Jamieson of Eli Lilly Company dated 1935. U.S. Congressional Record, May 21, 2003, E1018, page 9).
Since then, repeated studies show the dangers of Thimerosal.
In 1967, a study in Applied Microbiology found Thimerosal killed mice when added to vaccines. In 1972, Eli Lilly found Thimerosal to be “toxic to tissue cells” in concentrations as low as one part per million (PPM), 100 times weaker than the in a typical vaccine. Despite all of this ongoing and emerging data, Eli Lilly “continued to promote Thimerosal as ‘nontoxic,’” even including Thimerosal in topical disinfectants. In 1977, ten babies at a Toronto hospital died when an antiseptic preserved with Thimerosal was dabbed on their umbilical cords. In 1982, the FDA proposed a ban on over-the-counter products containing Thimerosal. In 1991 the FDA considered banning Thimerosal from animal vaccines.
Finally, in 2006, researchers at UC Davis published a study connecting thimerosal with disruptions in antigen presenting cells known as dendritic cells obtained from mice. Researchers and parents had previously proposed links between childhood vaccines and autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects language skills and social interactions. The UC Davis study indicates that in addition to being a direct neurotoxicant, Thimerosal may also be an immunotoxicant, leaving the immune system vulnerable to microbes and other external influences. Samuel R. Goth et al., Uncoupling of ATP-Mediated Calcium Signaling and Dysregulated Interleukin-6 Secretion in Dendritic Cells by Nanomolar Thimerosal.
Today, most veterinary vaccines still contain Thimerosal, despite the dire warning signs that have been present for nearly a century.
Why is Thimerosal necessary for vaccines?
It isn’t. Thimerosal has one function. It allows vaccine manufacturers to package vaccines in multi-dose vials. This means each vaccine will cost a few dollars less. Thimerosal would be completely unnecessary if vaccines were manufactured in single dose vials.
3. Contaminants
Contaminants found in vaccines are also behind many of the adverse reactions we see in dogs. “Contaminant” means anything that shouldn’t be there. That’s anything impure or unclean, is toxic or poisonous, or has the ability to create disease. Vaccines contain contaminants that can cause cancer, leukemia, autoimmune diseases and a myriad of other unwanted conditions.
An important scientific paper was published in April 2010 in the Journal of Virology (Isolation of an Infectious Endogenous Retrovirus [RD-114] in a Proportion of Live Attenuated Vaccines for Pets, Journal of Virology, April 2010, p 3690-3694, Vol 84, No 7). It showed how two teams of scientists, in Japan and the UK, isolated a feline retrovirus (called RD-114) in both feline and canine vaccines in the UK and Japan. Had teams from America, or Germany, or Kazakhstan also been looking, they would probably have found the retrovirus, too. The contamination involved seed stock – the witches’ brew of disease shared amongst vaccine manufacturers internationally, from which they make their vaccines.
The following are extracts from a related paper appearing in Biologicals in 2010. “RD-114 was first isolated from a human tumor cell line (RD cells) derived from a human rhabdomyosarcoma after passage through fetal cats, and is thought to be xenotropic.”
Translation: they found this cat retrovirus in a highly malignant human tumor. “Xenotropic” means that it will be harmless in the original host species, but will cause problems (like tumors) in a different species.
In her article on Vaccine Contaminants in the January 2013 issue of Dogs Naturally Magazine, author Catherine O’Driscoll continues, “One of the authors of this paper wrote to me privately: “If the ERV induces diseases in vaccinated animals and humans, it will take more than five years (in animals) to ten years (in humans) when the first patient appears. But it will take additional time to relate some diseases with specific vaccines because expected diseases are very common (such as cancers, lymphoma and autoimmune diseases). If so, when we are aware of the real risk of ERVs, it is too late because millions are infected with the viruses by the contaminated vaccines.”
The only official checks made for contaminants in vaccines are for a few known pathogens, potentially missing a vast host of unknown, unstudied, small particles and chemicals. It’s simply impossible to remove contaminants from vaccines.
4. Animal Protein
Disease micro-organisms are often cultured on animal tissue including embryonic chickens or cow fetuses. When a vaccine is manufactured, it is impossible to divide the wanted virus from the unwanted animal tissue. It all gets ground up together and injected into your dog’s body.
If a dog eats animal flesh or an egg, it is digested into simpler amino acids before entering the bloodstream. The digestive process in most cases changes protein molecules so they don’t trigger an immune reaction. This is not the case for vaccines. They are injected undigested, directly into the bloodstream, where the foreign protein matter circulates throughout the body.
An immune response is triggered when the body detects foreign proteins. Killer cells (white blood cells) are sent out to consume the cells containing the foreign proteins and protein fragments. This process is nature’s way of protecting the body from being overwhelmed by invading organisms and eventually succumbing to them. The foreign protein fragments are not always destroyed by the body as it is busy cleaning up the multiple viruses that have just been injected, along with the serious chemicals aluminum, Thimerosal, formaldehyde and more. So the foreign protein matter gets absorbed into body cells. T-Cells, sensing they are there, but unable to reach them directly, attack the body cells that harbor them. This can lead to autoimmune disorders including cancer, allergies, arthritis and more.
“Our ongoing studies of dogs show that following routine vaccination, there is a significant level of antibodies dogs produce against their own tissues…Some of these antibodies have been shown to target the thyroid gland, the connective tissue such as that found in the valves of the heart, red blood cells, DNA etc.” Larry Glickman DVM, referring to the results of the Purdue Vaccine Studies.
5. Money
The final vaccine ingredient to be discussed isn’t injected into dogs, but the concept of vaccination itself. In 2005, the global vaccine market was $6 billion. In 2012, it is $34 billion. It’s not surprising that more vaccines are manufactured for dogs and media hype frightens pet owners into using them.