Ilena E. Ayala wrote:
>I do know that NY has an automatic kill and test policy in place regardless
>of vaccination history.  I was told by the health dept that this is because
>the shedding period is unknown, so theoretically, they could already be
>incubating the virus at vaccination time and not be protected.
 
Well, sort of. I think your health dept. was confusing things. Those are
actually two separate arguments that you'll hear out of public health. The
shedding period of ferrets is still unknown, but barring wildly unexpected
results, should end up at 1-3 days. And it will only be "indicated" or
"demonstrated" because biologists don't like absolutes. An unrelated
argument is that it's possible for a ferret to be incubating at the time of
inoculation, but this would only be a risk after the first vaccine at 3
months -- a 3yo ferret current on yearly inoculations aint very likely to
be incubating rabies. If ferrets were so susceptible there'd be a lot of
dead ferrets and a lot of dead ferret owners.
 
The problem is that we can't prove with certainty that any of our ferrets
*aren't* rabid.  It's always possible that a rabid bat flew into the cage
one night and bit the ferret, and it's always possible that the ferret is
one of those 1% that doesn't develop sufficient serologic response to the
rabies vaccine to be fully protected, and it's possible that the ferret was
incubating at time of inoculation.  One way or another, some improbable turn
of events can be invented that prove it *possible* that your animal is
shedding rabies.
 
The answer, as Ms. Ayala noted, is to learn enough about the disease to be
convincing to the bite victim AT THE TIME OF THE BITE.  Although true, just
saying "My ferret aint rabid" won't be good enough, and if a hostile or
paranoid health official becomes involved, the ferret is as good as dead.
It's very simple from his viewpoint -- he couldn't care less about the
ferret, and the cheapest, surest "way out" is to kill and test.  In 2 or 3
years the CDC should release some numbers that will force changes in PH's
policy, but until then, keep strangers away from your ferrets.  Sorry to
finger-wag, but the latest happenings in Michigan have me shaking my head.
 
Condolences to Mr. Jacobs and all others who've suffered at the hands of
stubborn, ill-informed bureaucracy. Being in CA, I know what it's like.
 
swamp
 
"Who, me officer? What's a ferut? These guys?? No, they're Polish cats."
[Posted in FML issue 1927]