AVA Conference Gold Coast 2020

Population size, density and instability are well recognized as crucially important determinants of the risk of acquiring contagious infectious diseases. So special approaches to the use of vaccines in animal shelters and other medium-sized to large group settings are needed. Many animal shelters contain large, rapidly-fluctuating populations of animals, with variable disease susceptibility, living in high-density housing. Many, although certainly not all, operate with less-than-optimal financial and other resources. It can be very challenging to limit the spread of contagious infectious diseases in such facilities. Vaccines play an important role in an overarching shelter management strategy that is intended to limit morbidity and mortality in individual animals, and to avoid or minimize the frequency of disease outbreaks, while (crucially) enabling the shelter to continue to fulfil its overall mission and goals for society. This talk will focus on the use of vaccines in dogs and cats that are housed or congregate in medium-sized to large groups, especially those living in animal shelters.