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This week, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health is donating 7,250 doses of EquiRab rabies vaccine to the Unwanted Horse Veterinary Relief Campaign (UHVRC) in honor of World Rabies Day. The donated vaccines will be sent to 150 UHVRC equine rescue and retirement facilities across the country, helping to protect the thousands of horses in their care from contracting the fatal disease.
World Rabies Day, held annually Sept. 28, was created to increase awareness of rabies and encourage animal vaccination in order to prevent human rabies cases worldwide. Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health has been a major supporter of World Rabies Day by donating to the Afya Serengeti project. Since 2003, Intervet/Schering-Plough has donated more than 900,000 doses of canine rabies vaccines to vaccinate dogs in Tanzania.
The company will increase its support for the 2009 World Rabies Day by helping unwanted horses as well. With the donation of EquiRab to UHVRC, more than 7,000 unwanted horses will receive protection against the untreatable disease.
About rabies
"Rabies is a preventable disease that people and their animals die from every year," says Cynthia Guitierrez, D.V.M., equine technical services veterinarian for Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health. "World Rabies Day is a way of increasing awareness of the disease and promoting prevention through vaccinations. Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health is dedicated to protecting all horses against rabies, including those deemed unwanted."
Because rabies is a zoonotic disease – meaning it can be transferred from animals to humans – it carries significant public health significance. This is one reason why the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has identified rabies as a core vaccine, one that has been determined to exhibit a high enough level of patient benefit and a low enough level of risk to justify vaccination in the majority of horses.
"Any human who comes into contact with a horse infected with rabies has the potential to contract rabies. This disease is a threat to horses and all of the people who care for them," Dr. Gutierrez says. "Annual vaccination is an easy way to protect your horse and all people in contact with the horse."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 cases of rabies in horses were confirmed in 2008 in the U.S. That is down from 42 in 2007 and 53 confirmed cases in 2006.
"We believe this decline is likely attributed to increased public awareness and vaccination," Dr. Gutierrez adds.
About UHVRC
UHVRC, established by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health and AAEP, was designed to provide core vaccines for qualifying equine rescue and retirement facilities. In order to receive vaccines, facilities must submit an application and work with an AAEP-member veterinarian. Facilities also must have a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
"Our equine rescue is solely run on public donations," says Cheri White Owl, owner and manager of Oklahoma-based Horse Feathers Equine Rescue Inc. "The vaccines donated through the UHVRC will allow us to allocate more of our annual budget to provide necessary nutrition and emergency care for our rescued horses."
Since its inception in January 2009, UHVRC has provided core vaccines for more than 1,500 rescued horses. For more information about the UHVRC, visit www.uhvrc.org. Also, look for UHVRC on Facebook and Twitter.
About EQUIRAB
EquiRab, the only rabies vaccine designed specifically for horses, is available through veterinarians. For more information about EquiRab, or to learn more about Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health’s full line of innovative, high-quality equine health products, visit www.equirab.com or www.intervetusa.com.
About Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health
Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health is a leader in research and dedicated to the development, production and marketing of innovative, high-quality animal-health products for all major farm and companion animal species. For more information about Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health visit: www.intervet.com and www.intervetusa.com.
Schering-Plough is an innovation-driven, science-centered global health care company. Through its own biopharmaceutical research and collaborations with partners, Schering-Plough creates therapies that help save and improve lives around the world. The company applies its research-and-development platform to human prescription and consumer products as well as to animal health products. Schering-Plough’s vision is to "Earn Trust, Every Day" with the doctors, patients, customers and other stakeholders served by its colleagues around the world. The company is based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA, and its website is www.schering-plough.com.
EquiRab is the property of Intervet International B.V. or affiliated companies or licensors and is protected by copyrights, trademark and other intellectual property laws.
SCHERING-PLOUGH DISCLOSURE NOTICE: The information in this press release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to expectations or forecasts of future events. Schering-Plough does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from Schering-Plough’s forward-looking statements, including market forces, economic factors, product availability, patent and other intellectual property protection, current and future branded, generic or over-the-counter competition, the regulatory process, and any developments following regulatory approval, among other uncertainties. For further details about these and other factors that may impact the forward-looking statements, see Schering-Plough’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including Part II, Item 1A "Risk Factors" in the Company’s second Quarter 2009 10-Q, filed July 24, 2009.
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