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Can your horse get a flu after being vaccinated for flu and tetnus?

2K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  Maddie159 
#1 ·
I'm just curious. Can they still get a flu?
My pony came to me with one, pretty badly. To the point the vets feared for his life, he had to be double rugged, sometime tripeled to keep him alive. And it caused his heart murmur.
He's fully vaccinated now, but apparently we're in for a harsh winter and I was wondering if I needed to take precautions.

The vets said he wouldn't survive another flu but wasn't sure if they meant if I left him unvaccinated or with him being vaccinated?
 
#2 ·
Often illness is referred to as Flu, but isn't, it simply has Flu like symptoms. Were they explicitly diagnosed with influenza?

It's always possible to get the Flu even when vaccinated, but the effects will be mitigated through the bodies increased defenses. They can't get the Flu from the vaccine itself because of how the vaccines are made, either with cold adapted, dead, attenuated, or epitope viruses. Reactions from the vaccines can happen, but it's not an actual illness, just the body reacting to a perceived threat.

In horses the window of immunity is estimated to be around 6mo-1 for flu, so risk will increase outside of those periods.

Talk to your vet about specifics, but I'd be inclined to vaccinate.
 
#5 ·
The vet did diagnose with influenza. He is fully vaccinated and up to date. He isn't due his booster till February.
I just don't want him to get a flu when I can prevent it. I'd rather keep my pony alive and out of work (if his heart murmur doesn't improve) rather than dead...
 
#3 ·
Unfortunately there is no vaccine that is 100% effective, but as noted a horse will have a certain immunity so the symptoms may not be as severe.


How dud the vet determine that the flu caused the heart murmur? The flu affects the respiratory system, not the circulatory which includes the heart, unless the horse's respiration was so compromised he wasn't getting sufficient oxygen.
 
#4 ·
Some days he struggled to breathe. He was only one when he had it and the previous owners didn't treat it. I don't exactly know how long he had the flu for. He was left out in harsh rain, then cold weather without shelter, so he never got a chance to warm up or dry.

The vets weren't clear when they told me last winter. But they said the flu had caused the heart murmur because how bad it was.
He had to eat his haylage from the floor or he couldn't breathe while eating.

I have him in a light weight turnout (no fill) at the minute. And he seems happy enough in it. But he's only two and rapidly growing out of his rugs. (Literally bought a 5'0 3 weeks ago and that is starting to look small on him) I have a medium weight but don't really want to put it on him till it's gets colder? I could double rug him but he doesn't like more than one rug on.
 
#7 ·
They can but they get a milder case of it, or so I was told. I bought a mare from a select sale, she came across the border just days before. She had all her vaccines, testing, everything, but when I got her, she got sick. Had the vet out, she said she had the milder case of the flu/cold and said she should be fine. She was within a few days.
 
#9 ·
Yes, it is possible to get influenza after vaccination but it should be less severe.
You say your horse is current on vaccination, but be sure that you are taking into account the the recommended intervals between vaccines for influenza is shorter than that for the majority of other diseases. It can be recommended as often as every 3-4 months depending on the vaccine brand.
 
#10 ·
A flu vaccine contains a educated guess of what flue virus serotypes will be prevalent that year.

What this means is that a flu shot contains multiple epitopes or dead virus serotypes. It does not (and cannot) contain ALL flu viruses due to the high mutation and recombination rate inherent to viral propagation.

SO, your horse getting a little sick after a vaccination is the body reacting to the vaccine as a couple posters have mentioned above. Your horse can still get a full blown viral infection of a mutated virus that no longer responds to the vaccine or an influenza serotype that is not covered in the vaccine. It is also possible (albeit unlikely) that the vaccine was insufficient/ineffective and the virus that infected your horse was covered in the vaccine.

Happy to provide some peer-review literature on flu recombination and vaccinations if anyone is interested =) I'm a Biochemist.
 
#11 ·
A vaccine is not 100% as others stated. It sounds as if you need to have a conversation with your Vet. Do not hestitate to say, do you mean blah blah..?
I would rather sound stupid then walk away wondering what needed done.
Now I just laugh and say okay, senior brain.. tell me again.

If your pony is going to prone to diseases, keep him in a Clean barn/stall . make sure he has the recommended vaccines by your Vet, again ask the Vet.

Keep him on a good vitamin/mineral supplement .. if you are not sure.. Ask the Vet since the pony has heart murmurs.

Also make sure he does not have any COPD issues, lung issues, heaves etc. Again a clean stall, fresh bedding , fresh clean water , no dusty hay / forage.
 
#12 ·
I've asked the vet and it's like their avoiding the situation. I don't think they exactly know either. I had to get them out today because he was injured in the field and I asked. They just said keep him rugged and extra warm.
But I can't always do that as he won't let me put anything other than a MW and that's only through December and January after that he starts biting the rug, won't stand still to have it put on. So after January he pretty much won't tolerate anything on him.
 
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