AAFP releases vaccination advisory panel report

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In August, the American Association of Feline Practitioners made public the 2013 AAFP Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel Report, endorsed by the International Society of Feline Medicine, and published in the September issue of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

The report was developed by the advisory panel of the AAFP to provide practical recommendations to help clinicians select appropriate vaccination schedules for their feline patients on the basis of risk assessment.

Recommendations in the report rely on published data as much as possible, as well as the consensus of a multidisciplinary panel of experts in immunology, infectious disease, internal medicine, and clinical practice.

Topics include vaccinating cats in trap-neuter-return programs, shelter-housed cats, and cats housed in breeding catteries. Feline herpesvirus 1, feline immunodeficiency virus, rabies, and Chlamydophila felis are among several pathogens addressed in the report.

The AAFP produced the first set of vaccination guidelines in 1998. They were updated in 2000 and again in 2006. Each version has offered a comprehensive review of the literature and has provided recommendations for vaccine protocols based on known science, along with some extrapolation between studies and between species when feline studies were not available. This latest report has used the same criteria.

The 2013 AAFP Feline Vaccination Advisory Panel Report is available online. There, a copy of the guidelines can be downloaded, along with a client brochure and disease information fact sheets.