>I do know that the breeder who exported the ferrets to Holland had
>also exported to the USA, so I presumed it was the same breeder, If
>not, I can only presume that most of the ferrets in NZ must have or
>carry ADV and I do hope that none are being exported any more, sorry
>for my mistake.

Hi Stephanie,
I know of at least 3 separate breeders in NZ that exported ferrets to
other countries that had an ADV problem. One was the farm that sent it
to your country (and others as well). I know that Dr. Mooreman wrote
to him about the problem, as did many others, and he seemingly ignored
them. Right now, I do not remember the name of his farm, but I
certainly hope he is out of business now.

The other 2 I know of were both rather small breeders. One brought
some ferrets over for some of her FML friends, and was very saddened
to learn they carried ADV. The other was someone who was selling a
few ferrets to one or 2 US animal distributors, but was not a farm.

It has been over 10 years since all this happened, and it is no wonder
some of the details have gotten foggy. But, the important lesson for
any one planning to import or export animals from one country to
another is that before bringing the animal over, it needs to be
thoroughly checked for problems. Once it arrives, it should be held in
quarantine for a period long enough for diseases that might have been
present to show up, and should also be tested for those diseases that
we have tests for.

Best to all.
--
Danee

ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com

[Posted in FML 7482]