For more on this recent topic in just one URL (Click open posts there.):
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/message/19471

More is in the archives of the FML and the FHL as well as elsewhere,
including information from shelters which have fought CD and
veterinarians who have helped them do so.
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/

Why is this topic so important?

It is important because on rare occasion vaccines do not work.

It is important because shelters and some other rescuers get in ferrets
with unknown vaccination histories.

It is important because compromised ferrets sometimes are not
vaccinated for health reasons.

It is important because some compromised ferrets and ones getting
certain medications can not develop good immunity even when vaccinated.

It is important because some ferrets are too allergic to the vaccine
or to the medium in which the vaccine is delivered to be vaccinated.

It is important because the exact titer number for protection against
CD is not known but is a currently a very educated guess.

It is important because some people choose to not vaccinate even when
it is possible.  (Frankly, having personally seen Canine Distemper in
few types of animals and rabies in one in my work and in more through
my life I can tell you that almost anyone who has seen the disease
itself is going to have a very different take than that.  Having asked
around I so far have not found one person who has encountered those
diseases personally who does not vaccinate -- though some, like us, do
titers.)

It is important because there is research indicating that some pet
ferrets do not get sufficient vitamin A in their diets to help fight
off infection with CD (not a substitute for vaccinating but a help).

It is important because CD infection is an absolutely horrible way to
die, especially after it goes to the central nervous system.

It is important because the cost of the vitamin A, antivirals, extra
vaccines, and other needs in shelters which get CD is enormous.

It is important because of the emotional and physical toll of caring
for animals which are so ill.

It is important because a home, store, or shelter with an infected
animal can have people carry that disease to other homes, shelters, or
stores. It has happened and the actual experts say it has happened.
Just see the easily found references I have included in past posts
then go on to find more on your own.

It is important because not all ferrets have had the foundation series
of CD vaccines as kits and without that (or the substitute of at least
two CD vaccines two or three weeks apart) there is not sufficient
resistance.

Direct exposure which basically means the ferrets sneezing or coughing
in each other's faces or grooming each other or sharing a litter pan
is not only a way of delivering more virus but it is a more common way
to spread the virus, BUT cases where the ONLY possibility was INdirect
exposure exist and sadly are not all that rare. So, to be safe indirect
exposure can not be discounted. Ferrets' lives can be lost in some
homes and shelters and stores if they make that mistake since not all
ferrets are protected from the virus.

When indirect transfer of canine distemper (which happens to have been
mentioned in the past as probably the most common, and in some cases
only possible, cause of some cases of canine distemper in pet store
ferrets and those kits are often not sufficiently protected by vaccines
due to age and some bad practices) occurs it is hard to impossible to
define the exact route, whether on shoes, clothing or what other
surface..

Not knowing exactly which surface was involved veterinary pathologists
and virologists -- the EXPERTS -- have put together most likely
scenarios for that situation and for other situations -- as in home
cases of CD and some of the shelter cases. The reason that those
experts in this topic repeatedly mention -- including in educational
gatherings attended in the past by multiple FML and FHL members --
being so concerned about shoes are:

1. The chances of stepping into infected material is higher than
getting it on the rest of clothing for most people because Canine
Distemper is so common among wild, feral, and unvaccinated animals in
so many locations worldwide. (BTW, Grey County had an alert this week
of very high levels:
http://www.promedmail.org/direct.php?id=20130625.1790449 ).

2. On shoes it can be fecal matter which may be caught in areas like
between treads. Protected like that under many home conditions the
inner portion will not dry out sufficiently within the typical three
hours for the virus on exposed surfaces in studies in home conditions.
(Though a person living in certain conditions which are rare for most
of the nation may be safer in that regard due to extreme dryness just
as those living in some other extremes will be worse off than most due
to higher humidity.) That is why one ferret veterinarian in her URL
mentioned earlier this week specifically mentioned the timeframe of
one day.

3. Ferrets and dogs find shoes attractive and mouth them often.

4. Ferrets and dogs also investigate novel scents like fecal ones on
shoes.

Further info on the disease itself:
<http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Diseases/Introduction_And_Neuropathology.pdf>
about 1/3rd of the way down

<http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/Distemper_in_a_Ferret.pdf>

These refs above are slightly old. For example, there are some
treatment approaches now, using vitamin A (important) and antivirals,
and some of the mentioned vaccines no longer exist though one related
to Galaxy does and Purevax does (though it is too often in short supply
due to not having enough and frequent enough dedicated production line
time).

So, it is combination of shoes being the portion of clothing most
likely to encounter and trap waste material containing viable virus
especially fecal material which will shield the virus from drying out
and from being exposed to light, of knowing firmly that in the typical
home setting even when exposed on surfaces rather than protected in
feces in shoe treads the virus remains viably infective for three hours
(so the stuff in shoe treads is a problem for longer), and of knowing
that ferrets and dogs like to investigate novel smells (especially
fecal ones) and play with shoes.

Yes, indirect transfer is less common than direct, but it has happened
and as list members saw in the many very easily found references on
that which were already shared with the lists. This information is
easily found by anyone who wants to look and the actual experts agree
it is enough of the risk to repeatedly publicly warn about, in their
websites and in their lectures. Many list members will have been
present at such lectures for example, through the work of the IFC.

The timeframe easily allows for transmission of infective virus, too.
Rather than the 10 minutes for virus infective viability stated in one
FML member's post (without references) several days ago you will see in
the multiple expert references I provided for list members this week
that under typical U.S. home conditions (which these days also exist in
most vehicles) that three hours of the virus being viable on surfaces
is typical but that under the wrong conditions it can be longer, and
under optimal conditions the best case is still at least 30 minutes.
(Frozen CD virus can remain viable for years, though.) For example,
there have been list member shelters with *very* separate areas for new
ferrets and ferrets known to be health which have had it get from the
isolation room to the other areas by indirect transfer. (Remember that
it does not travel long distances in air due to the friability of the
fatty envelope around the virus in those conditions.)

So, you can see why calculating the exact rate for indirect
transmission from shoes is so impossible AND why the actual
veterinary pathologists, virologists, public health veterinarians,
epidemiologists, and the treating veterinarians who try so valiantly
to help infected animals consider shoes to be a risk for indirect
transmission and why a number of them have repeatedly said exactly
that. Not having an exact rate does not mean that the rate is high, but
it also DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE RATE IS LOW. It just means that it is
not known, so imposing an interpretation of the level of risk is highly
inaccurate and potentially could kill someone's treasured ferret or
dog, an outcome that I think we all want to avoid.

[Posted in FML 7832]