No, your pet dog cannot get autism from a vaccine

The anti-vaccine movement has come for the pets.

A spreading fear of pet vaccines’ side effects has prompted the British Veterinary Association to issue a startling statement: Dogs cannot develop autism.

The implicit message was that dog owners should keep vaccinating their pets against diseases such as distemper and canine hepatitis because any concerns that the animals would develop autism after the injections were unfounded.

The warning has a long tail. It grew out of an anti-vaccine theory that rippled across the United States and Europe as networks known as “anti-vaxxers” claimed that childhood vaccinations could cause autism. The belief, promoted by some celebrities such as television personality Jenny McCarthy, who says her son has autism, spurred many parents to begin boycotting traditional vaccines.

The theory gained prominence in 1998, after a study published in the medical journal the Lancet purported to show a link between autism and the measles- mumps-rubella vaccination. It caused a firestorm in health circles and among parents, resulting in a significant drop in vaccination rates for children in Britain.

But the study has since been thoroughly discredited. It was formally retracted by the medical magazine and its lead author, Andrew Wakefield, who at the time was a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital in London, was subsequently struck off the British medical register over ethical lapses.

The theory, however, has jumped species. It is increasingly being applied to pets in the United States and is gaining momentum in Britain — raising concerns that the already low vaccination rates in this country could fall further.

Those who fear vaccine side effects in their dogs claim the animals could develop canine autism, thyroid disease and arthritis.

“We are aware of an increase in antivaccination pet owners in the U.S. who have voiced concerns that vaccinations may lead to their dogs developing autismlike behaviour. There’s currently no reliable scientific evidence to indicate autism in dogs (or its link to vaccines),” the veterinary association said in a tweet.