To Sue Kocher -
 
    Sue - I know you emailed me several weeks ago concerning this and I
mailed you a reply.  You might check your service to see if there has been
an interruption...
 
>My brother will coming from Michigan to visit me in early August.  He can
>ask a vet to supply the vaccines and he can bring them along to have a vet
>administer here.  But I am not sure if a) vets in the US are allowed to do
>such a thing; b) it is legal to bring them in, though a bust is unlikely;
>and c) whether the vaccines need to be refrigerated or kept on ice during
>transit (which could be up to 24 hours door to door).
 
    You're right on the distemper.  While almost any chick embryo cell line
vaccine will give adequate protection, only Fervac-D has been specifically
tested in ferrets.  Probably others have been tested on ferrets, but not in
a statistical sampling required for approval in this species.
 
    Regarding rabies - Imrab is the only approved vaccine for ferrets, so
your brother's choices should be fairly simple.  I'm not sure of the
legality of him bringing it in, so how about shipping it directly to your
vet.  A veterinarian can legally import vaccines into most countries (I
have to generalize here, because I'm not familiar with Turkey's laws).
Rabies vaccines, because they are already reconstituted do need to be kept
refrigerated.  Finally, you might check with your vet and see if he can
order it direct from the states or through a European suppier from the
manufacturer (Rhone-Merieux) for you...
 
Bruce H. Williams, DVM         Dept. of Veterinary Pathology
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]         Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
                               [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1246]