News Briefs for the Week of April 7, 2002
By Marcella Durand for Cat Facts
- FIV Vaccine Approved
As early as this summer, cat owners may be able to vaccinate their pets against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), a feline virus that is similar to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. On March 25, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the vaccine for commercial production and veterinary use. Fort Dodge Animal Health will hold the license to manufacture the vaccine. "It's the first time any type of vaccine to prevent any type of animal immunodeficiency virus infection has been approved for commercial use," says USDA spokesperson Jim Rogers.
Needless to say, the development of the vaccine, led by Janet Yamamoto, PhD-who originally identified FIV in 1987-at University of California-Davis and University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, is exciting news for cat lovers. And, "the success of the FIV vaccine also offers hope that eventually a vaccine will be developed that will effectively protect against AIDS in humans," says Niels Pederson, director of the Center for Companion Animal Health at UC-Davis.
The vaccine is made from two different types of FIV-one from North America and one from Asia-and is a "killed vaccine," which means it is made from inactivated FIV. In a study of the vaccine, 67 percent of vaccinated cats were protected against FIV, while 74 percent of non-vaccinated cats became infected with FIV. Studies indicate that the vaccine will protect against FIV for at least 12 months.
FIV is transmitted from cat to cat primarily through bite wounds, and free-roaming, unneutered males are the highest risk group. FIV is not transmissable to humans, and many animal rescue organizations, such as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, have recently been encouraging people to keep or adopt FIV-positive cats. While FIV may eventually weaken a cat's immune system, it can be several years before infected cats show any symptoms. And sometimes an FIV-positive cat may not develop problems at all, especially with regular doses of TLC!
- Prison Guard Gets Just Desserts
A prison guard will soon see what life is like on the other side of the bars-and deservedly so.
Ronald Hunlock, a guard at Sing Sing prison, was sentenced on March 22 to a year in jail for crushing five newborn kittens in a trash compactor, after discovering them in an inmate's cell. When the inmate refused Hunlock's order to put the kittens in the compactor, Hunlock put them in himself. Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Lange said the crime was "so offensive and so calculated and so gratuitously cruel, it diminishes the humanity of everybody."
The only bright spot in this sorry story is that the mother cat managed to escape her kittens' horrible fate.
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