The related recalls are dribbling in still:
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html
Pet ones are lagging behind human ones. Here is the new pet one:
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/carolinaprimepet01_09.html
Some people may wonder why so many of the recalls have been vegetable
products when such infections typically comes from animal sources. The
reason is that things like E. coli and salmonella can be spread from
poor sanitation by people or from animal waste. With the many cut-backs
to the agencies which do inspections, the USDA and the FDA they had to
focus on things which have the most potential to do harm, so the meat
and poultry, and medical drug and equipment, and the facilities which
make those have continued to have inspections (though some of those
had to be cut back, too, because the funding cuts over a space of about
7 years took down the number of inspectors drastically). That meant
that things which are less likely to spread infection have been barely
inspected. That problem will persist until there are enough inspectors
again, enough money to fund them, and until any who are new are well
enough trained. It is not a small problem to correct.
For your own information and the safety of your ferrets, you, your
family, and your home, here are three URLs to bookmark and check:
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.htmlhttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/2008_news_releases/index.asphttp://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html
The FDA and USDA send out updates if you sign up for them.
I may be on less often for a while due to death in my human family.
Please, send any health questions to the FHL and one of the other
moderators will get to them as their schedules permit during points
when my time is also scarce. Please, keep mail to me to a minimum
this week. Thanks.
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.htmlhttp://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/http://www.ferretcongress.org/http://www.trifl.org/index.shtmlhttp://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 6229]
