>I have seen many postings regarding ADV and Aleutian disease.  Can someone
>direct me to a place where I can get comprehensive information on these
>things?  I will be a ferret mom soon, and I want to know if there are any
>preventative measures I can take.  Also, I thought ADV and Aleutian
>disease were the same thing.  Apologies because I have seen lots of ADV
>info on the list but never saved it, thinking I could get it off the
>archives if I ever needed it.  Well, I tried but I need to sleep sometimes,
>and I have this annoying 50 hr / wk tech support job...
 
Thank you for asking questions Christine!  I wish more people would.
(And thank you, Linda, for your post!) There are quite a few articles on
Aleutian disease, most of which were published many years ago.  One of the
most recent ones is on Russian's web page.  It's an article by Drs.  Nye
and Brown from Midwest Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital.  (the URL is right
below my name).  There is also information there regarding testing and
donating to research.  There are also links to other articles.  One written
by Laine at exotic pets is excellent.  Please also take a moment to visit
the "Faces of ADV" page.  The reason you hear about ADV and Aleutian
Disease is because a ferret can test positive for the Aleutian Disease
virus (ADV), yet never become ill.  It simply means that the ferret was
exposed at some point and developed antibodies.  That ferret, however,
*could* shed the virus at any time, infecting other ferrets.  No one knows
when or why they do.  In Texas, 2 ferrets that brought Aleutian disease
to a shelter never became ill...yet the shelter ended up with over 60% of
their shelter kids becoming positive, and about 20% dying from the disease.
When I say that Lil Bear is not only ADV positive, but also has clinical
Aleutian Disease, it means that he not only has produced the antibodies,
but also the antigens and now has Aleutian disease.  Dr. Williams called
Aleutian disease "a death sentence" at the 2000 Ferret Symposium in
Toronto.  He predicted an AD epidemic within the next 10 years.  Sadly,
most people simply don't believe him.  He said that a ferret usually has
approximately 18 to 24 months to live from the onset of becoming clinical.
I don't know when Lil Bear became clinical so he could have a few months
left or up to 2 years.  His blood work shows "signs" that he did not just
recently become clinical, but again there's no way to know for sure.  Even
the vets that know most about Aleutian disease can't say what exactly the
blood test results mean as far as what stage the disease is in.  There is
actually very, very little known about Aleutian disease as it exists today.
Studies were done years ago, but the virus has mutated since then.  For
example, in the very beginning when the first ferrets were ADV positive,
NONE ever became ill.  In a later study it was found that some became ill,
but it was not as devastating an illness as minks get and the ferrets did
not die from it.  Now, of course, more and more ferrets are dying from
Aleutian Disease.
 
In some areas, the ADV positive ferrets do not seem to be shedding the
virus.  Cage mates test negative even after years of living with the ADV
positive ferret, or even after living with a ferret that has Aleutian
disease.  This gives people a false sense of security.  In Texas, Dr.
Murray reported that they are seeing almost a 90% contagion rate.  No one
knows whether this is a different strain or, if it's the same strain, why
it's acting so different.  There is nothing to say, though, that those
ferrets that are not infecting others now, can't suddenly begin infecting
their cage mates at any time.  I hope I've been able to answer your
question.  If not, please feel free to ask more questions.  There is far
too little discussion about AD on the different ferret lists.  Sadly, most
people simply "pass over" the ADV posts.
 
The BEST preventive measure you can take, Christine, is NEVER adopt a
ferret unless it has been tested for ADV at least twice, several months
apart.  Unfortunately, even that isn't a guarantee, but it's a big step.
 
Judy
Please give to Aleutian Disease research...the ferret you save may be your
own!
http://www.geocities.com/russiansmom/index.html
[Posted in FML issue 3410]