<http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/03/06/sharp-rise-in-distemper-among-st-louis-county-raccoons/>

Reminders:

Any ferret which did not have the full kit series and then the one year
annual booster will need two sequential canine distemper vaccines about
2 to three weeks apart. This also goes for shelters and people not
realizing this is thought to be an important part of why several
shelters have experienced Canine Distemper outbreaks.

Ferrets may not require annual canine distemper vaccines once they have
that important foundation, though individuals can vary so some might
need vaccines more often than others, and titers can give an idea of
the ferret's personal coverage. One of ours never maintained good
enough titer numbers from one year to the next to skip vaccination,
for example, but we had two others with such very high titer results
that they might have been more at risk of a reaction had they been
vaccinated. We use Cornell for the titers we have done. This study has
been completed but the submission form is something for you to save
http://www.ferret.org/pdfs/titer_study_cornell_form.pdf
A week ago I could not find it online so was glad to locate it again
so all can copy it and again have the contact info for submissions and
forms:

http://www.ferret.org/pdfs/titer_study_cornell_form.pdf

AHDL Contacts

NYS Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory

College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University in Partnership with
the NYS Dept of Ag & Markets

AHDL Contacts

Phone: 607-253-3900
Fax: 607-253-3943
Web: diaglab.vet.cornell.edu
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

US Postal Service Address: PO Box 5786
Ithaca, NY 14852-5786

Courier Service Address: Upper Tower Rd Ithaca, NY 14853

Having sufficient Vitamin A onboard appears to give some increased
resistance and is an essential part of treatment in homes or shelters
when Canine Distemper occurs there. Full article for free:

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/8/1916.long

Quoted Abstract (and the dosing is correct, having contacted Dr. Ward
while he was there):

The measles virus (MV) causes half a million childhood deaths annually.
Vitamin A supplements significantly reduce measles-associated mortality
and morbidity. The mechanisms whereby vitamin A acts against MV are not
understood and currently there is no satisfactory small animal model
for MV infection. We report on the development of a ferret model to
study antiviral activity of vitamin A against canine distemper virus
(CDV). CDV is closely related to MV at the molecular level and
distemper in ferrets mimics measles in humans. We infected vitamin
A-replete (control) and vitamin A-depleted ferrets with CDV and
assessed the ability of high-dose vitamin A supplements to influence
CDV disease. 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. 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.
All ferrets that received vitamin A supplements, however, recovered
uneventfully from CDV infection. These results replicate many aspects
of the observations of vitamin A therapy in humans with measles and
suggest that CDV infection in ferrets is an appropriate model for the
study of the antiviral mechanism of vitamin A.

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9659
includes:

I have communicated with Dr. Brian Ward who was one of the study
authors and he sent this information for the FHL membership:

START QUOTE

Hello Sukie
No typo or error ...
When we launched this study, we had no idea what the kinetics of
vitamin A deficiency and sufficiency were in ferrets and we decided
to give a good large dose to replenish depleted stores. There was no
toxicity associated with the 50,000IU daily dose x2 and this dose is
not so different from the WHO recommended 100,000 IU daily for 3 days
for small kids (a good sized ferret weighs ~1-1.5 kg in my experience).

Brian
END QUOTE


http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL13524
Canine Distemper has a friable envelop which is sensitive to heat and
lack of humidity, so on things like clothing under the most extreme
conditions used it can last for years if frozen in ice, but can fall
apart if exposed to very hot and dry conditions. Of course, when left
in a yard or park or on the bottom of your shoe in animal feces it is
somewhat protected by the feces and therefore more of a risk to your
ferret, and infected coughing and sneezing, or social grooming ferrets
or dogs also pose an obvious risk.

Missouri article:
<http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/03/06/sharp-rise-in-distemper-among-st-louis-county-raccoons/>

You will be able to find more on
<http://www.promedmail.org>
when that website has the new links in the menu on your left there.

Sukie (not a vet)  Ferrets make the world a game.

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
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)

A nation is as free as the least within it.

[Posted in FML 7725]