Wolfy wrote:
>They say that some ferrets that test positive for ADV antibodies may never
>come down with the full spectrum disease.  I privately question this...
>did they not say this about AIDS all along?  But if the person is alive
>long enough to contract the disease does not every person that tests for
>HIV eventually come down with full blown AIDS?
 
Excellent point.  At the Ferret Symposium in Toronto, Dr. Williams said
that it may take 18-24 months for symptoms to show and that something has
changed about the disease in the last few years.  It could be that in the
past, the average incubation period used to be several years, and most
ferrets died of other causes before the disease could show itself.  But
now the virus has mutated to act faster and/or spread more easily and/or
be more virulent.
 
Dr. Williams said that a diagnosis of ADV today is indeed a death sentence.
It was very sobering and frightening moment.
 
Judy's posts show us just how frightened we should ALL be.  Thank you Judy
for sharing your anguish with us.  Our prayers are with you.
 
Linda Iroff
Oberlin OH
[Posted in FML issue 3189]