The World Veterinary Association and “HealthForAnimals” launched this global holiday back in 2016 with the sole purpose of educating the public and the people responsible for animals, no matter if companion animals or livestock, the grave importance of one of the greatest scientific discoveries – VACCINES!

Vaccines are a method that provides active acquired immunity to a certain disease. Vaccines usually contain a substance that has to mimic the infective agent and is often created from dead or weakened forms of the particular microbe, its surface proteins or its toxins. In this way, the vaccine will trick the body to think that this substance is a threat, will encourage an immune response that will destroy the substance and will remember this for the future encounters with the same microbe. When the body will meet that microbe again, will be immediately ready to defend itself and kill the microbe.

This holiday, the World Animal Vaccination Day, promotes the importance of vaccination of all animals, big and small. More than hundred diseases in animals can be prevented or easy to fight through vaccines, thus helping many other species including wild animals, livestock, birds, dogs, and cats.

Many diseases that occur in animals are zoonotic. This means that they are transmissible from the animals to humans. Perfect example for this is rabies. A recent research showed that vaccinating 70% of the dog population against rabies will be enough to eliminate the risk of rabies in the human population.

Vaccinating the food-producing livestock is essential to ensure that the animals are healthy for human consumption, and to minimize the need and use of antibiotics.

Preventative healthcare is what every veterinarian strives for. Let’s use this holiday to educate all the pet owners how important is to vaccinate their pets on schedule. The vaccine boosters are also very much important, and that if the dog had all its puppy vaccines that’s great, but only for the first year. We need to make sure that all rabies shots are also given on time.

Celebrate this day with making it an annual holiday at your clinic too, make it a party while that puppy gets its shot ????

Happy World Animal Vaccination Day!