Four people dead of ferret bites is more like the international history
of such deaths... Nor is there any record, anywhere of a ferret passing
rabies on to anyone else, though they can contract it.
 
The swiftboating of ferrets on Anderson Cooper's show went way over the
top.  Of course, ferrets have been falsely slimed before, but people
would like to think better of shows on what are supposed to be news
channels.
 
I am hoping for folks here that either the AFA or IFC websites, or both,
got around to putting up the AFA's Dr. Freddie Anne Hoffman's two
excellent data compilations of bite and of rabies stats, worked from such
reputable sources as state health departments and the CDC.  Websites are
usually maintained by volunteers, though, so things can take time for the
obvious reasons that most volunteers are overworked and also obviously
have their own lives.  BTW, Dr. Hoffman is a pediatrician.
 
Dr. Hoffman has compiled the Annual Rabies Statistics from 1980 - 2001
[Number of FERRETS and other Animals with RABIES in the USA].  NOTE THAT
THESE ARE RABIES FIGURES, NOT BITE STATS.  In most years there have been
no ferrets found to have rabies in the U.S.  In fact, over that entire
time there were 20 cases in total, giving an annual figure of less than
one in a population of about 10 million ferrets in the U.S.  Compare that
to cats (an average of 229 cases per year in a population of about 60
million), dogs (140 per year in a population of 57 million, averages per
year of 250 cases in livestock and of 38 in rodents or rabbits.  FYI: the
human rate over those years is about 2 cases per year in a population of
about 225 million.  Most cases of rabies in humans is of bat strains and
usually gray bat.  (Remember, though that most bats are healthy and that
they are best pest control that exists for mosquitos, followed by purple
martins, so bats save markedly more human lives than they ever place at
any risk.) These figures are worked from the data of the CDC.
 
Furthermore, in 1991 Dr. Hoffman compiled data for an article in "FDA
Veterinarian" which looked at the reported numbers for serious bites.
When the bite rates of ferrets were compared to those of dogs PER CAPITA
ANIMAL (i.e. adjusted for population size) ferrets had about 1/200th the
risk rate of dogs, working from data from the CDC and JAVMA.  "These
statistics were compiled from 1978-1988 and were reported on a yearly
basis: between one and three million dog bites, compared with 65 ferret
bites in 10 years.  Serious bite injuries were recorded as 44,000/year
for dogs and 12/year for ferrets.  Severe facial injuries requiring
plastic or reconstructive surgery number 16,000/year for dogs and 12/year
for ferrets".  The estimate at that time for the dog population was 50
million, and the estimate for the ferret population was 3 million, so the
rate for dogs was 8.8 bites/year per 10,000 dogs versus 0.04 bites/year
per 10,000 ferrets.
 
Here are some official resources to help people including the 2005
"Compendium of Animal Rabies Control and Prevention":
http://www.avma.org/pubhlth/rabies_compendium_2005.pdf
  and
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/rabies/Ques&Ans/q&a.htm
 
Does anyone have the direct address to write to that CNN show?  We don't
watch it; it became obvious too soon to us that the fact checking was
really lax.  In fact, we have noticed even an apparent decrease in fact
checking in Aaron Brown's show in recent months, leading us to watch it
less often, also depending on when they are covering actual news or
getting side-tracked away from what matters in the long run for most
people's lives by the latest tacky sensationalism.  That is a real
loss for us since we had greatly enjoyed that particular news show.
Producers' "fluffification", I suspect... (Hey, the "news" in recent
years deserves the creation of new words and phrases: "Fluffification",
"to fluffify", "slight of tongue" instead of "slight of hand" "slim-slam"
for the flim-flam that brings us watered down news and sensationalism
which divert us from real news.  You name it!) I am afraid that Anderson
Coopers' fluff isn't just on his head (His hair is what I most like about
him.); it's in his head if he doesn't put down his foot and demand better
fact checking.  At least it is still dramatically more accurate than Fox
cable news...
 
Many THANKS to Larraine, Fran, Pete, and Wolfy (Becca) who have just sent
out their letters to APHIS in support of ferret-specific standards!  As
more and more letters come in to them we have more and chance of ending
some of the worst sadnesses and frustrations of the ferret world.  When
we work together we are very powerful!
 
http://www.ferret.org/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/
edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/05-15516.htm
http://docket.epa.gov/edkfed/do/EDKStaffCollectionDetailView?
objectId=0b0007d4809252bb
(comments take up to 72 hours to appear if done as ann e-docket and
up to 5 days to appear if sent as snail mail)
 
and don't forget that Alexandra has offered to help edit and spell
check the letter of anyone who would not write otherwise or who would
appreciate her kind help: <[log in to unmask]> .  Now, if only they
COULD be delivered in novel ferret fashion... Big hugs to Hope, Guardian
of Hope, who remembered all of these little ones who can be helped!
 
Sympathies to all who have recently had very hard times; there than been
more than few recently with lost parents or other human family members,
lost ferrets, lost jobs, serious illnesses, and other hardships.  All
that I can say is that time does help, and even one dear friend who has
pretty much walked into and through (and now out the other side) of such
an extreme series of hardships that the years of pain are unfathomable
did wind up eventually walking out the other side and re-finding the joy
in life.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 4977]