I had an enlightening talk with my local animal shelter here in Chapel Hill,
NC.  They informed me that that stray ferrets are invariably euthanized.
The assumption is that stray ferrets are at risk of exposure once outside
the home and since the test for rabies is lethal anyway, they are all
killed.  I then asked what happens to a ferret with a current rabies tag on
its collar or harness.  I was told that if the animal could be quarantined
for a long period of time that it *might* be released, but I had the
distinct impression that this situation had never come up and that the state
health people would probably recommend euthanizing them anyway.  The
Triangle Ferret Club here in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area would like
to change some of the attitudes toward the treatment of stray ferrets to at
least allow vaccinated animals to be quarantined for a period.  (I know we
wouldn't be able to sway their actions with non-vaccinated animals since
there has been a fairly large problem with rabies this summer in NC.)
 
My questions to the FML: (1) is there any recent information on whether a
ferret with up-to-date vaccinations has neutralizing immunity against
rabies?  (2) Has any new technique been tried for detecting rabies in
animals such as PCR?  (3) Has anyone else had success with local animal
shelters in getting their staff to respond differently when a person calls
or comes in with a stray.We'd like to see the day when a person who calls
the County Animal Shelter about a stray ferret is given the number of our
ferret shelter.  Any insights would be welcomed.
 
I'll be doing a separate
literature search on the technical topics above and can post a synopsis of
what I find if there is any interest.  --Jeff Johnston
([log in to unmask])
[Posted in FML issue 1364]