To Ayumi Takeshima:
 
> 1. LIVE vaccine virus or KILLED vaccine virus ?
 
        The only approved distemper vaccine for ferrets is a modified live
one.  Whiel there are occasional vaccine breaks with any vaccine,
historically, there have been more cases of distemper arising from the use
of killed vaccines that of modified live (attenuated ones).
 
>        2. Do all kind of vaccine which are made of a
>           modified live vaccine virus of CETCO not always
>           have a ferret cell culture origin ?
 
        This is something that you will have to read on the package insert
that comes with the vaccine.  I am currently unaware of a distemper vaccine
manufactured in the US that is grown in ferret cell culture, but they may be
prepared that way overseas.
 
>        3. Is the findings about black-footed ferret applicable
>           to domestic ferret ?
 
        For the most part, yes.  The disease that both species have are very
close, with the exception of a few neoplasms...
 
 
>
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 1216]