There isn't anything yet in
http://www.avma.org/press/

but there IS a news article with more details in
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/may08/080515f.asp
which is apparently on-line 3 days ahead of time.

Begin small quotes:
The new Exotic Companion Mammal specialty practice area received
provisional recognition from the AVMA, following review by the AVMA
American Board of Veterinary Specialties and approval in April by the
AVMA Executive Board. The new specialty will focus on ferrets, rabbits,
guinea pigs, rodents, and other small exotic mammals that people keep
as pets. It will fall under the auspices of the American Board of
Veterinary Practitioners, which offers board certification in a number
of other specialty practice areas.

 ...

According to the 2007 edition of the AVMA's U.S. Pet Ownership &
Demographics Sourcebook, Americans own about 6.2 million pet rabbits--
an increase of 1.4 million in five years. Americans also own 1.2
million hamsters, 1.1 million ferrets, and 1 million guinea pigs
along with hundreds of thousands of gerbils and other rodents.

[But this does not mesh reporter WSJ's Ken Well's estimate several year
ago (maybe about 7) of 3.2 Billion per year because people don't spent
$3,000 every year on each ferret. It would be good to know what the
numbers are based upon. For instance, if they are from federal figures
from the farms with an estimate of privately bred ferrets added on then
it could make sense.] ...

The ABVS consists of one voting representative from each recognized
specialty organization plus liaisons from the Association of
American Veterinary Medical Colleges and AVMA Council on Education.
Recommendations for recognition of specialties or specialty
organizations go from the ABVS to the COE and then to the AVMA
Executive Board. Information about the ABVS is available at
www.avma.org/education/abvs/default.asp .

To attain full recognition, the Exotic Companion Mammal specialty must
submit a second petition for review between year four and year 10 of
provisional recognition.

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 5962]