>With the many concerns that existed about Fervac-D (the only
>approved distemper vacc.  for ferrets) I know many of us (myself included)
>have been vaccinating with Galaxy-D.  My vet met with a Shearing-Plough
>(the company that makes it) representative and he indicated that they are
>no-longer using chick cells to make the vaccine but dog cells instead.
>This (according to my Dr.) makes the vaccination much closer to the disease
>it is being used to prevent and could possibly GIVE the disease instead of
>just building antibodies.
 
This doesn't make sense to me.  Glaxaxy-D is a vaccine for canine
distemper.  It would normally ONLY be used in dogs.  (Use in ferrets is
'extra label'.) If using dog cells would make it a higher risk for use in
dogs and other carnivores, then why would they switch?
 
I suspect either the info is wrong or incomplete.  It's possible they are
using dog cells and something else was changed as well which would lower
the risk.  If someone calls, please find out when these changes were made
(if there were changes) so people can make note of whether they would be
using the new or old version of the vaccine as a reference to any reaction
rate.
 
Just my two cents.
 
-Ilena Ayala
[Posted in FML issue 2539]