Rather than searching for the source (read: who to blame) it might be
immensely more beneficial to all ferrets for ferret owners to search for
information regarding WHERE ADV currently IS, and WHERE the ferrets they
may be about to acquire have been.
 
For instance, I can tell you that ADV has been documented in the North East
Texas (& Dallas/Ft. Worth) area as well as the area around San Antonio.
 
I can tell you that in North East Texas, we quarrantine & test all ferrets
coming into the shelter unless we receive VERIFIABLE information of the
ferret's origin & that the ferret has never been contact with other ferrets
(shows, friend's, etc.)
 
I can heartily recommend that anyone in Texas & surrounding regions (yeah,
that's a pretty big chunk of real-estate) should ask about ADV testing
before accepting a new ferret from a shelter, breeder, friend, or
newspaper ad.
 
Anger & blame placing only serve to encourage the silent spread of this
killer.
 
Shared information is the only thing that can combat this particular
problem and prevent its becoming an epidemic.
 
Debi Christy
[Posted in FML issue 3332]