Launch of World Animal Vaccination Day

HealthforAnimals and the World Veterinary Association are pleased to launch the first annual World Animal Vaccination Day. Taking place on Wednesday, 20 April 2016, World Animal Vaccination Day will raise awareness of the vital role vaccines play in protecting the health of animals and, as a result, people too.

Promoting Healthier Animals Global observance day: Wednesday 20 April 2016

Each year will have a different theme, and the inaugural day will focus on the importance of cat vaccination and keeping these vaccines up to date. E.g. thanks to widespread vaccination less than 1-2% of healthy cats in the world have feline leukaemia1. 75% of all new human pathogens originate from animals, and so vaccines are key to limiting the future spread of infectious diseases between animals to people around the world.

Carel du Marchie Sarvaas, Executive Director at HealthforAnimals says: “The vaccines are manifold. Vaccination not only protects animal health and improves welfare through reduced disease, it is also vital to protect human health. For instance, vaccinating just 70% of the dog population is enough to eliminate the risk of rabies infections in people. Vaccination of food-producing animals helps to ensure a safe and sustainable supply of protein, which is especially important as the population continues to grow.”

Dr René Carlson, President of the World Veterinary Association added: “Cats receive much less attention from preventive healthcare, including vaccination, than most other domestic species. The primary reason is that around 50% of cat owners only visit a veterinarian when their cats are sick or injured. However, vaccination helps to protect your cat against several serious and/or life-threatening diseases and is the most effective and least expensive method to keep cats healthy in the first place. Decisions about vaccines for cats are based on the cat’s age, lifestyle, contact with other cats and the availability of licensed vaccines in the country, so it is important to discuss what vaccines your cat needs with your local veterinarian.”

A logo has been designed to highlight this new awareness day and will help the two organisations to mark the day through social media campaigns on both twitter and Facebook:

• HealthforAnimals is on Twitter as @Health4Animals
• World Veterinary Association is on Facebook.

Source : http://icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/feline-leukaemia-virus-felv