> There is also bad news for people who keep birds as pets. Psittacosis
>(also known as Parrot Fever) and Avian influenza A (bird flu) are
>usually found in parrots, parakeets, cockatoos, canaries, pigeons,
>sparrows, ducks, egrets, chickens, turkeys and ferrets. Frequent
>diseases like influenza, campylobacter cryptosporidiosis (18%),
>tuberculosis that causes TB are all found in Ferrets, which are the
>member of the parrot family. Humans can get these diseases by cleaning
>their cages, touching their waste, getting their nasty bite, handling
>the sick birds, visiting bird parks, and by letting bird beaks to meet
>their mouths, which causes food borne disease.

from

<http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=45687>

Now, there certainly ARE zoonoses ferrets can have but there are fewer
of them than in dogs or cats. Animals more closely related to humans,
such as rodents, have more then any of those members of Carnivora.

Info:
<http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/rabies/pdf/qvra-rabies.pdf>
(Scroll to charts.)

I noticed that two labs have their sites down for re-writing; one was
correcting for incorrect rabies info.

<http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/rabies/pdf/qvra-rabies.pdf>
is a 1992 article. Destruction has NOT been the CDC's recommended
course since late 1997!

BTW, it looks like the "new" American Chronicle article is largely
based on that FIFTEEN YEAR OLD paper!

<http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/BRM/resources/stationary/SafePetGuidelinesPAWS.pdf>

Now, here is a funny one for you: while it is theoretically possible,
there has never been a case of rabies transmitted from a ferret
recorded world-wide. Ferrets do get some mycobacteria (including TB)
just as some more common pet mammals do (either fido, fluffy, or
both -- I can't recall offhand), they share influenza with humans
(usually as a reverse zoonosis -- i.e. we infect them), and there are
a few other things, and some more theoretically possible things. Yet,
http://phps.dhs.co.la.ca.us/vet/guides/vetzooman.htm#Zoonoses
in California lists just rabies...

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5820]