Sukie wrote: >Over 30 years ago a housemate's newly adopted dog developed canine >distemper. She had immediately gotten her vaccinated but an exposure >apparently happened at or before the pound from which she adopted. It >was horrible, truly heartbreaking. ##Or there was also the possibility that the dog came down with distemper from the vaccine itself. http://www.thedogplace.com/library/articles38.htm Here goes nothing on the JAVMA studies <g>: First off let me explain a little about titers and what they can and can t tell us. I did some research on titers last week and hope I can explain what I learned okay. HUMORAL IMMUNITY, antibodies that circulate in the bodies fluid (this is what is tested in a titer). CELL-MEDIATED IMMUNITY, individual body cells that have learned by past experience (exposure) what foreign invaders look like and mount a response by manufacturing immune proteins. MUCOSAL IMMUNITY which takes place in the thin mucous lining of the mammary, respiratory, urinary, and digestive tracts. Those are the 3 major immune system defenses at work in the body. Of those 3 the only current titer test is with Humoral Immunity. Cell-Mediated immunity can be tested but it is expensive and difficult to measure. So we are only getting part of the whole picture with the current titer test. And low antibodies may not mean the animal is not protected, it could mean that the animal has not been exposed to the disease recently. So are titers good? Yes and no. They could provide a level of comfort to an owner who wishes to vaccinate less or has a companion that has had a reaction or other health problems because of a vaccine, or an old or sick companion who may get more risks than benefit from a vaccine. On the other side if an animal tests with a low titer you still don t know if the animal is protected. As far as I know there is no titer level that has been established for a ferret. You could titer the animal then discuss with your vet the results and your options based on the circumstances. Which brings us to what do the titer numbers mean? I was a bit confused about this and found a site that explained it very simply: http://www.obfocus.com/questions/qanda5.htm basically the titer is the number of times you can dilute a sample of blood and still detect the antibodies. How do they determine what is considered protective? That I haven t found out yet! I delved into this because of the big difference in what was considered adequate in the 2 JAVMA studies I will be referencing. Both studies were serum titers for CDV & CPV in dogs. The July 98 study went used serum CPV titers 1:80 and serum CDV titers 1:96 were considered protective and the results were: Thirty-three of 122 (27%; 95% confidence interval, 19.0 to 34.9%) dogs had a less-than-protective CPV titer. Twenty-five of 117 (21 %; 95% confidence interval, 13.6 to 28.4%) dogs had a less-than-protective CDV titer. The Oct 2000 study which was conducted by Lisa Twark, DVM & W. Jean Dodds, DVM (Dr. Dodds is very well known and respected in immunology, her bio http://www.foxfirepublishing.com/doddsbio.html ) considered titers >1:5 an adequate antibody response. The results were: Of 1,441 dogs, 1,370 (95.1 %) had adequate and 71 (4.9%) had inadequate antibody responses to CPV, whereas 1,346 of 1,379 (97.6%) dogs had adequate and 33 (2.4%) had inadequate responses to CDV. So you can see the differences in the tests. I am still researching why that is so, but don t know if I will be able to get an answer. (different lab, different way of testing, or possibly the advancement in veterinary science?) I will be happy to forward the 2 studies to whomever would like to see them in their entirety. I am sending the link again for the challenge and serology study that Schultz did because I feel that is a more accurate test and because it tested out much further than these 2 did: http://www.ivis.org/advances/Infect_Dis_Carmichael/schultz/ chapter_frm.asp?LA=1 I hope some of you found this informative and may go and do your own research and make more informed decisions for all of your companions. Here is a link to show you what some vet colleges are now teaching: http://www.vth.colostate.edu/vth/savp2.html ~Amy~ [Posted in FML issue 4118]