An FYI recently went out on the Mysterious Illnesses Vets' List about a
report of Aleutian tests coming back positive in high numbers in one area.
Here is some very useful information from two KNOWLEDGEABLE VETS (Ben Otten
and Judi Bell) on Aleutian Disease which I figured others here might want
to know.
 
 "It only holds more validity if you are testing sick ferrets"
 
 "And remember the halmark [sic] of Aleutian disease is elevated protein
  levels.  If you have other signs and no elevated proteins then you have
  some other disease."
 
 "At this time Aleutian dz.  is a rule out diagnosis eliminate all the
  other causes and then you might have Aleutian dz."
 
 "The common test for Aleutian Disease will not select the virus that seems
  to affect ferrets, it also identifies the one that affects mink.  The
  mink virus rarely if ever causes disease in ferrets.  There are more
  sensitive tests than the one that is done by United Vaccines,that will
  differentiate the viruses.
 
So if you have used the United Vaccine test then you'll want to realize
that false positives are going to be common and decide whether to use the
more specific tests should you get a positive result.
 
The vets also pointed out that some strains of the variant which does
mostly get ferrets vary in their virulence, but that many ferrets which
test positive seem to never break with the disease.
 
It was pointed out that although people should certainly be careful with it
there is not a need for general panic with the current strains because they
have not been seen to be highly contagious.  Remember that they are more
likely to spread "vertically" (though a breeding line) than "horizontally"
(among members of a colony) so the ones who need to be most vigilant about
the illness are going to be breeders.  (ATTENTION BREEDERS)
 
 "If the pets they sell are not actually dying of AD, testing positive is
  not a good reason to think that they will cause an epidemic among other
  ferrets in the homes they go to, or to kill a clinically normal pet that
  will probably have a normal lifespan despite the ADV positive test."
 
Some more good news: just heard on the news that only about seven and a
half thousand North Carolina residents are still without homes from
Hurricane Floyd, and it turns out that the rate of severe damage seems to
be lower than seen here in N.J. because the numbers of destroyed or badly
damaged homes so far seems to be quite similar to what the news has quoted
for N.J. even though less area here was flooded (I think that if this
holds it might partly be from the way the water came; in many parts of N.J.
it was a sudden rush of water, but there might be other causes like more
dense population here, different building codes, or perhaps the newscaster
or I got report numbers mixed up.)  There are still going to be critters
from N.C. up into Maine being helped by various animal rescue groups after
the damage, so remember to send supplies or a check to places like UAN.
 
Another benefit of Karen Purcell's book has struck me.  I bet it would work
as a fine class book for the vet schools which want to tackle ferrets but
need a friendly introductory text.
 
Hey, we've all got favored items or activities upon which we spend more
than our peers.  Around here it's info: reading materials, software, CDs,
DVDs, etc.  Other people will travel, or have fancy clothing, or have a
boat or vacation home, or own a big and expensive vehicle that guzzles gas
and costs through the nose.  Maybe some gamble for the thrill on and off
(Oh, yesterday's post!).  When you feel like someone's expenses are wrong
remember that the person may spend less than you in other areas and may
well have learned the skills of budgeting, saving, and keeping household
budget books.  Then be glad that you have learned these things and that
you know which things you enjoy.  Now, as a final action go and have the
best pleasure of all -- cuddle, kiss, and play with a ferret!
[Posted in FML issue 2817]