Especially note these portions of the abstract:

>In control ferrets, CDV infection caused fever, rash, conjunctivitis,
>cough, coryza, and diarrhea. In contrast, control ferrets that were
>given 30 mg of vitamin A did not develop typical distemper after
>infection and exhibited only a mild rash. The supplement did not
>negatively affect ferret health and resulted in a 100% increase in
>serum and liver vitamin A concentrations.

and

>We also found that profound vitamin A deficiency is inducible
>in ferrets and can be rapidly reversed upon high-dose vitamin A
>supplementation. Vitamin A deficiency caused anorexia, diarrhea,
>cataracts, behavioral abnormalities, and ultimately death, with
>or without CDV infection.

and

>All ferrets that received vitamin A supplements, however, recovered
>uneventfully from CDV infection.

That some of the foods used for ferrets might be too low in Vitamin A
for ferrets is something I know some veterinary nutritionists have
considered.

The article is:

> 1. J Nutr. 2007 Aug;137(8):1916-22.
> 
>Disease manifestations of canine distemper virus infection in ferrets
>are modulated by vitamin A status.
>
>Rodeheffer C, von Messling V, Milot S, Lepine F, Manges AR, Ward BJ.
>
>McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, Faculty of
>Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Montreal General Hospital,
>Montreal, QC, Canada.

The full article is available for free and all veterinarians who treat
ferrets should have it on hand so help your vets help your ferrets:

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/8/1916.full.pdf+html

I have been in communication with Brian Ward and he has confirmed that
the amounts of Vitamin A are correct. This should not be a surprise for
anyone who considers ferret ancestry rather than human ancestry. So,
I will quote myself to save time and spare my eyes: Don't be overly
scared of Vitamin A (but beware too much D for ferrets, as with dogs).
For ferrets both A and D are different than they are for people. We
need more D than we often get but can not tolerate much A. Ferrets
are the opposite. It traces back to ancestry, with them having long
backgrounds of liver eating and crepuscular activity with burrow
dwelling. whereas our ancestors got most of their Calories from plant
sources and were diurnal.

Readers of the FHL and FML will notice that in the NW State shelter
they found that the common factor for which ferrets got canine
distemper was that those ferrets did NOT have the full kit series of
vaccinations. Since too many newbies and too many pet stores (the
exceptions being a few with knowledgeable managers and the ferrets
that Petsmart used to sell abut 6 years ago before they stopped since
they did not sell below age 12 and all the kits had the full distemper
vaccine series and a rabies shot on board when sold) don't realize the
importance of the kit series.

The upshot is reminders sent from vets that all shelters and adopters
need to know that ferrets with undocumented vaccine histories probably
should have more than one canine distemper vaccine or have a titer run,
and so many, many thanks to the people in Washington State who made
sure that people know this. See also:

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL13494

and

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL13457

There is also research ongoing to use Interferon along with Vitamin A
during CDV outbreaks. My apologies for forgetting the name of the vet
in Texas who is researching this though I think that I recall a short
name beginning with W because I seem to remember thinking that was cool
since another person with s short name beginning with a W was among
those who did the research on A. Then again, I am only a few days past
my most recent glaucoma surgery so I am not seeing well, my body is a
bit stressed, and I can't skim well yet or read much for now, so I
could be goofing up. I know I have that name somewhere but just can not
find it with the difficulty skimming. I SHOULD have it in my head but
don't.

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL13453

and

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL13466

There have also been recent posts in the FML and FHL on what to take
into account when considering vaccine types. The ones not (yet for
some?) okayed for use in ferrets do NOT have sufficient effectiveness
and safety studies behind them, though one of those has a very small
safety study (so only a preliminary study so far), and one uses a
variation upon a previous vaccine, but then the things to consider are:
modified vaccines are not always as safe or effective as the tested
ones had been, if a ferret cell line is used then attenuated vaccines
can actually give ferrets CDV, and when the vaccine is put in
combination with other vaccines (including ones that won't do any good
for ferrets like parvo vaccines) then the risk of a vaccine reaction is
increased. Links to the FHL and FML Archives are in my sig lines; the
FML link is always also in each day's FML header, and the FHL links to
the FHL archive are on the FHL homepage.

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/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 7105]