In particular, the Association says that pet owner fears that their animals may transmit the disease could become a threat to companion animal welfare.
The guidelines, which are being updated as the situation evolves, are currently available in English and Portuguese, here: https://wsava.org/news/highlighted-news/the-new-coronavirus-and-companion-animals-advice-for-wsava-members.
The guidelines, launched during WSAVA World Congress 2018 in Singapore, aim to bridge differing perceptions of welfare around the world and help veterinary surgeons and nurses tackle the ethical questions and moral issues which impact welfare.
They also offer guidance to ensure that, in addition to providing physical health advice and therapy to their patients, veterinary surgeons and nurses can advocate for their psychological, social and environmental wellbeing.
Dr Shane Ryan, incoming President of the WSAVA and former Chair of the WSAVA Animal Wellness and Welfare Committee, said: "As veterinarians, our responsibility extends far beyond the physical health of our patients. Animal welfare as a science is a new and rapidly developing discipline and veterinarians need current, evidence-based invformation to enable them to maintain the highest welfare standards and to provide knowledgeable, accurate advice for pet owners and communities.
"Our new Guidelines provide recommendations, checklists and other tools to promote optimal levels of welfare throughout the veterinary visit. They also offer guidance on increasing welfare beyond the doors of the clinic through outreach activities.
"As levels of pet ownership increase in many regions of the world, including Asia, it is essential that veterinarians champion animal welfare and the WSAVA hopes that these new Guidelines will encourage our members to adopt best practice and set the highest standards.
"I would like to thank the members of the Animal Welfare Guidelines team, who worked so hard to create them and, of course, our sponsor, Waltham, whose constant support was instrumental in enabling us to deliver them."
The Animal Welfare Global Guidelines for Companion Animal Practitioners and the Veterinary Team are available for free download at: https://bit.ly/2D3RAoc.
Speaking at a press briefing at BSAVA Congress 2017, Dr Cathryn Mellersh, Head of Canine Genetics at the Animal Health Trust and a member of the WSAVA Hereditary Disease Committee, also urged vets not to shy away from telling owners if they have made a bad choice to try to deter them from making the same mistake again.
During her briefing Dr Mellersh explained that concern about hereditary disease, particularly in dogs, had grown significantly in recent years, thanks to an increased awareness of the risks it poses to animals.
Dr Mellersh also explained that this heightened awareness had coincided with a period of rapid progress in the development of tools and resources to tackle hereditary disease, including the online DNA database, created by the WSAVA’s Hereditary Disease Committee and supported by Mars Veterinary, which is accessible, free of charge to veterinary surgeons around the world.
She said: "We ask vets to advise breeders to use DNA test results to avoid breeding clinically affected dogs and to reduce the frequency of mutation within a breed, over time, without damaging genetic diversity. When selecting a test, it is important that they ensure that the test they are using is based on sound science and on the right mutation for the breed being tested."
Dr Mellersh also warned veterinary surgeons not to advise against breeding with carriers and said that dogs should not be excluded from breeding on the basis of a single mutation that they could test for. She said: "The disease mutation that the DNA test is for is not the only mutation that a carrier has. Most dogs carry at least 50 recessive mutations so, if carriers are not bred from and only clear dogs used then there is a risk that other mutations carried by these clear dogs will increase in frequency within the breed and new inherited diseases could emerge."
"The ranges of resources available to help vets in this area is growing all the time and includes the WSAVA database hosted by PennGen and a Kennel Club database which lists the DNA tests recommended or required by Assured Breeders.
"For those looking to increase their knowledge in this area, hereditary disease is one of the key issues to be discussed during this year’s WSAVA World Congress in Copenhagen from 25-28 September. Many of the world’s experts will be there and a full lecture stream is planned."
"I ask vets to work with us and to contribute to the very real progress that is being made to tackle hereditary disease, particularly in dogs. Advances in technology are driving this progress and it is also being supported by many breeders and by the Kennel Club.
"The greatest challenge we face is that of educating the general public that they should be mindful of hereditary disease when choosing a puppy and should seek out those whose breeders have had the appropriate DNA tests and clinical screens.
"It is, of course, not always possible to reach owners before they buy a puppy but should their dog later go on to develop a condition that is well-known in the breed, then I ask them to explain this to owners so that, should they buy another dog, they do not make the same mistake. As a vet, you will also often be the first port of call for advice by first time breeders and this gives you a golden opportunity to advise them as to the tests they should undertake and, depending on the results, whether they should go ahead with breeding or not.
"Working together as a profession, being willing to discuss difficult issues with owners and breeders and utilising the resources and tools created by organisations such as the WSAVA, are all required to ensure that we increase the momentum we are already achieving in tackling canine hereditary disease in the UK and around the world."
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has given VetSurgeon the data on which these stories were based.
In the 3.5 years since the vaccine was authorised, the incidence of suspected adverse animal reactions has been 0.064%. In other words, for every 10,000 doses sold, the VMD has received reports of 6 suspected adverse reactions. This incidence is considered 'rare', according to the following convention:
The VMD reports that amongst the 40+ authorised dog vaccines in the UK, the incidence of suspected adverse reactions ranges from 0.002% (classified 'very rare') to 0.3% (classified 'uncommon')
However, the VMD is at pains to stress that suspected adverse reaction reports should not be used to compare the relative safety of products. They are, after all, only 'suspected' adverse reactions. The reliability of suspected adverse reaction reports is further complicated by the fact that vaccination against leptospirosis rarely occurs in isolation, making it very difficult to interpret which adverse reactions are attributable to Leptospira vaccines.
Many vaccines providing protection against leptospirosis also contain components for prevention of other diseases, such as distemper, parainfluenza and parvovirus. In addition, many dogs are vaccinated concurrently against other diseases, such as kennel cough and/or rabies, and other products (e.g. flea and worm treatments) may be administered at the same visit. Therefore the clinical signs observed may be related to any of the products used or they may be unrelated.
The VMD says the majority of the most commonly reported suspected adverse reactions to Nobivac L4 are linked to allergic type reactions which are well-recognised potential side effects of any vaccine, and are presented on the product literature.
As to the newspaper claim that: "The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) is urging owners not to use Nobivac L4 vaccine on puppies under 12 weeks old.", the WSAVA denied this in the strongest possible terms, saying: "This statement is blatantly untrue. The WSAVA would never ‘urge owners’ and would never make recommendations about individual named commercial products."
In a statement issued in response to the newspaper story, MSD said: "Nothing is more important to MSD Animal Health than the safety and efficacy of our products, and the health and well-being of animals.
"Nobivac L4 was launched in 2013 across Europe to prevent dogs from contracting Leptospirosis which is a serious zoonotic disease. It is one of the most widely used vaccines for dogs with several million doses being used annually to successfully prevent infection in dogs."
"As a responsible animal health company, we take every adverse reaction report seriously and investigate thoroughly. Whenever possible, we work with the pet owner and attending veterinary surgeon to assemble as much clinical information as we can to help determine the cause of a pet’s health issue, and whether or not the product may have been involved .
"We report findings to governing regulatory agencies around the world (based on a country’s respective laws and policies), so that they can make a fully informed, scientific assessment about the safety of the product. We do this so that accurate safety and efficacy information is available for veterinary surgeons prescribing our products."
In a parting shot, the WSAVA said: "The WSAVA guidelines are publicly available on-line and this journalist has clearly not undertaken adequate research before publishing this article."
See: www.wsava.org/educational/vaccination-guidelines-group
Following a new study published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association's One Health Committee has called for a co-ordinated global infectious disease monitoring system to be established for veterinarians who work in small companion animal practice worldwide.
The study, led by Michael Day, Professor of Veterinary Pathology in the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol and Chair of the WSAVA's One Health Committee, lists the key zoonotic diseases of cats and dogs.
It recommends that the knowledge gained through surveillance would permit more effective global control of small companion animal zoonoses and reduce the risks associated with the human-animal relationship.
Professor Day said: "It is well recognised that most of the major new diseases of mankind will have an animal origin and that dogs and cats are a potential source of such emerging diseases.
"The number of small companion animals is particularly significant. For example there are an estimated eight to ten million dogs living in up to 31 per cent of UK homes and in the USA, 72 million dogs in 37 per cent of homes. The benefits of pet ownership on human health, well-being and development are unquestionable but, as they have moved from the barn, to the house, to the bedroom, the potential for disease spread to humans increases. Control of diseases among dogs and cats is a good way to prevent spread to humans.
"In human, livestock and wildlife heath there are already programmes of active surveillance for infectious disease underway to monitor the global distribution and movement of key infectious agents. For example, the WHO monitors human influenza virus infection through a network of 111 centres in 83 countries. In contrast, there is no such monitoring for the infections that may be transmitted between small companion animals and man. Meanwhile, canine rabies virus infection, one of the diseases listed in the paper, is estimated to kill a minimum of 55,000 people in Africa and Asia each year.
"The development of such a scheme would require the significant political will, scientific application and financial support that could be achieved through a public-private partnership. The aim of our position paper in Emerging Infectious Diseases is to initiate stakeholder discussions with that end goal in mind."
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association has established a new Foundation with a remit to improve global companion animal care through science and education.
The WSAVA Foundation, a not-for-profit body, is now identifying a range of potential projects, which it says are likely to include:
It is also identifying sources of funding, grants and partnerships with the veterinary pharmaceutical and pet nutrition sectors and other potential donors.
Dr Larry Dee, WSAVA Foundation President, former WSAVA President and co-owner of a large companion animal practice in Florida, said: "The creation of this new Foundation is one of the WSAVA's most exciting initiatives to date. We have an ambitious vision to improve global companion animal care through science and education.
With its establishment, global veterinary medicine now has a wonderful opportunity to utilize the networking resources and global 'connectivity' of WSAVA to deliver on its goal of improving companion care everywhere. We will be announcing details of our first initiatives shortly."
For further information on the WSAVA Foundation, please contact the WSAVA Secretariat at wsavasecretariat@gmail.com.
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association is inviting nominations for its 2012 awards.
The awards, which recognise the achievements of veterinary surgeons around the world in advancing the care of companion animals, are made annually and will be presented during the 2012 WSAVA World Congress in Birmingham from 12-15 April 2012.
Nominations for the 2011 awards have already closed and will be presented at this year's event, which takes place in Jeju, Korea from 14-17 October.
Nominations are invited for the following awards:
The WSAVA Hill's Pet Mobility Award This recognises the outstanding work of a clinical researcher in the field of canine and feline orthopaedic medicine and surgery. Through improvements in the mobility and quality of life of pets, the research should have contributed significantly to the well-being of pets' lives and to the human-animal bond worldwide.
The WSAVA Hill's Excellence in Veterinary Healthcare AwardThis recognises the outstanding work of a veterinary surgeon in promoting companion animal health care and the human-animal-veterinary bond through leading edge clinical nutrition and through advanced medical and surgical techniques which enrich relationships between people and their pets.
The WSAVA International Award for Scientific Achievement This recognises the outstanding contribution of a veterinary surgeon who has furthered the advancement of knowledge of the cause, detection and management of disorders in companion animals.
In addition to these awards, the WSAVA Executive Board makes a special additional award for Service to the Profession. The award recognises exemplary service by a vet to foster and enhance the exchange of scientific and professional ideas throughout the world. For 2012, the award will again be sponsored by Dr John and Mary Holt, Past WSAVA President and Service to the Profession Award recipient, both of whom remain well recognized supporters of the profession.
Finally, the WSAVA's Global One Health Award will also be presented to an individual judged to have made particular progress in an aspect of One Health relating to companion animals. A second award aimed at encouraging younger members of the profession to embrace One Health will also be made to the individual who gives an oral or poster presentation at the 2012 Congress which best encapsulates the One Health concept. The recipients of these awards are nominated by members of the WSAVA's Scientific Advisory and One Health Committees in conjunction with the Local Hosting Committee.
Professor Jolle Kirpensteijn, President of the WSAVA, said: "It's important to recognise and celebrate the outstanding work of our colleagues around the world as they continue to advance the care of companion animals. The developments and scientific breakthroughs they work so hard to achieve are helping to improve the daily quality of life and health experienced by many millions of animals around the world.
"A WSAVA Award confers recognition and gratitude from the global veterinary community. Each year, we receive a higher number of entries and we look forward to reviewing the nominations for the 2102 awards. We are, of course, grateful to Hill's Pet Nutrition for its generous sponsorship and for its continuing support of the WSAVA. The awards are just one of the ways in which we work to deliver our joint vision to foster the development of veterinary knowledge on a global scale."
Nominations must be received by the WSAVA Secretariat by 1 September 2011 and can be submitted by email (wsavasecretariat@gmail.com) or post. They should include a covering letter, nominee CV and list of nominee publications. Full contact details are at www.wsava.org/contact.htm.
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has launched its annual search for veterinary surgeons deserving of an award for significantly advancing the care of companion animals.
Nominations are invited for the following awards, which will be presented during the 2011 WSAVA World Congress which takes place in Jeju, Korea from October 14-17 2011.:
WSAVA Hill's Pet Mobility AwardTo recognise the outstanding work of a clinical researcher in the field of canine and feline orthopaedic medicine and surgery. Through improvements in the mobility and quality of life of pets, the research should have contributed significantly to the well-being of pets' lives and to the human-animal bond worldwide.
WSAVA Hill's Excellence in Veterinary Healthcare AwardTo recognise the outstanding work of a veterinary surgeon in promoting companion animal healthcare and the human-pet-veterinary bond through leading-edge clinical nutrition and through advanced medical and surgical techniques which enrich relationships between people and their pets.
WSAVA International Award for Scientific AchievementTo recognise the outstanding contribution of a veterinary surgeon who has furthered the advancement of knowledge of the cause, detection and management of disorders in companion animals.
Professor Jolle Kirpensteijn, President of the WSAVA, said: "Our prestigious awards recognise the achievement of members of the veterinary profession around the world as they continue to push the boundaries of veterinary care for companion animals. The standard of entries is always high, reflecting the ground-breaking research and work being carried out by our colleagues in many countries. We look forward to reviewing the nominations for the 2011 awards.
We are also grateful to Hill's Pet Nutrition for its generous sponsorship of these awards and for its continuing support of the WSAVA. The awards are just one of the ways in which we work to deliver on our joint vision to foster the development of veterinary knowledge on a global scale."
The WSAVA Executive Board also makes a special additional award for service to the profession. The award is designed to recognise exemplary service by a veterinary surgeon to foster and enhance the exchange of scientific and professional ideas throughout the world. For 2011, the award will be sponsored by Dr John Holt, a long-term supporter of the WSAVA, past president (1986-88) and Service to the Profession award winner (1998.)
Nominations for all awards can be sent to the WSAVA Secretariat by e-mail, fax, or post (http://www.wsava.org/Contact.htm ) and should include a covering letter, nominee CV and list of nominee publications. Nominations must be received by the WSAVA Secretariat by 15 November 2010.