Judy--
       To be USDA approved for use in ferrets does not require the
manufacturing company to have performed viral shedding period studies.
This is why you can have an animal that has been vaccinated with a
vaccine USDA approved for use in that animal and still run into
problems with the Health Department folks.  Most of them will accept
nothing short of extensive viral shedding studies, and only those
performed in the U.S. at that!  There are some studies done in Europe
that do cover rabies in ferrets to various degrees, but it seems
that almost every time they are presented as reason for quarantine
instead of destruction and testing, they are ignored because "they
weren't conducted in the U.S.A."  The only thing that the vaccine
maker had to prove as far as rabies and ferrets is that ferrets
innoculated with their vaccine maintain high antibody titers and that
a statistically significant number of those ferrets do not develop
rabies when directly exposed to a live challenge virus.  There are
other things to be proved, such as the safety of the vaccine for the
animal (i.e.-- some of the kinds of reactions mentioned in the article
on distemper vaccines), but not relating to the disease itself.
       There are a few proposals for rabies shed period studies in
ferrets seeking funding right now.  A way you can contribute to
funding these studies is by sending a donation to the Morris Fund and
marking specifically on the check and any accompanying letter that
you send that it is only to be used for rabies viral shed period
studies of ferrets.  They have the proposals for the studies before
them, and when there is enough money to fund a study, they will
select which study(ies) to support.  Some will say that it is not
right for us to bend to those who demand U.S. studies that will
require more ferrets to die when there are studies available.  I say
neither is it right to let our companion ferrets continue in their
uncertain status such that they can be seized and destroyed, have their
owners' lives destroyed, and the laws that affect them can teeter back
and forth frequently.  I think a carefully conducted, well-documented
shed study could give as a large part of the support we need to get
ferrets the recognized quarantine procedures that could save them from
many threats of senseless destruction.
       I would also encourage you to see what existing ferret
organizations in your area are doing to promote the ferret as a safe
pet.  If there are none, consider starting your own group.  If there
is an inactive group consider joining and trying to stimulate interest
and action in that group.
 
                  Debra
 
 
[Posted in FML issue 0724]