Hi! I have a three year old thoroughbred gelding who I bought in august. He got the ewt/wnv vaccine in october of this year. We have recently moved him to our property where he is pastured by himself, but in the weeks to come, we are adopting another ottb and pasturing it with him. I have heard mixed views on the vaccine and was wondering if anyone could shed some light on it. He doesn't go off our property much (not until we start showing next year) but I don't want to risk anything with bringing this new horse in. I have heard that it has taken the life of some horses, others say they give the intranasal and they do just fine. I'm just a tad bit confused on what I should do!
thanks for any help!

The IM strangles vaccine is notorious for causing bad reactions to the vaccine, but the intra-nasal vaccine is much better. I have only personally heard of one bad reaction to the IN vaccine. A young filly developed pneumonia about a week after receiving the IN strangles vaccine. Though there is no evidence to link the vaccine to the pneumonia, the owners blame the vaccine. Who knows if the 2 are related though?

I had this discussion with my vet last fall, and she told me that she's seen very few reactions to the IN vaccine. Strangles is pretty common in my area, so I chose to vaccinate. And the vaccine is pretty effective. My friend actually boarded at a barn that had strangles run through the herd. Out of about 50 horses, almost all of them developed symptoms of strangles. Only 2 horses on the farm had been vaccinated for strangles, including my friend's horse. Neither of the vaccinated horses developed the disease, despite the fact that other horses in their pasture did. So she's quite glad that she gave the vaccine!

With all vaccines, I do like to space them out instead of giving all the "spring shots" in one day. I think it cuts back on the lethargy/not quite right feeling that many people notice the day after vaccination.

Every vaccine can have side effects because every animal (or person) is different. A vaccine also may not 100% protect a horse that gets it. However, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Even if your horse does get the disease they are vaccinated for, if the boosters are given at the appropriate time the illness tends to be shorter and less severe than it would have been. Vaccination also protects other horses too because of this and it sets up a certain amount of cumulative immunity in the population. pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com

The only side effect we have seen from the strangles vaccine is a slightly runny nose for a few days afterward. Other people's horses are a little lethargic for a day or two, and so on. The best thing is to give your horse a few days off after any vaccinations to recover, and get all the vaccinations and boosters your vet recommends. Also let your vet know you plan on showing, so that you can be fully protected.

My vet recommends it for younger horses and ones that travel a lot. We vaccinate ours that go to shows regularly. The fist year we gave them (3 years ago I believe) they got IM (shot) and one mare had a bad reaction her neck was swollen and very tender. Since then we have done the up the nose and had no problems!