I, too, talked with Suzanne Albert from Jack Grigor's office.  She was
very nice, polite, and professional, and was open-minded about
receiving more officially acceptable evidence to justify affecting her
office's behaviour.  This message represents my recollection
of the call and what she said; I think I remember things ok.
 
The 3 most important factors affecting their decision-making process
in bite incidents are:
 
1) Shedding studies.  I mentioned that there were animals (such as the
horse) for which studies had not been done, but that nevertheless were
routinely treated differently (say, quarantine & observation).  I'm
not absolutely sure she was aware of the horse case before I mentioned
it to her, but she responded that domestic farm animals are treated
differently because they are classified differently by the Compendium
for Animal Rabies Control (I think the source for that is ASPHV).  I
don't have a copy of the Compendium to check her assertions, but that
leads to the next item:
 
2) The Compendium for Animal Rabies Control.  Suzanne says ferrets are
not classified therein the same as other animals (dogs, cats, horses,
etc).  I thought that this had been changed in recent years, but I
don't have the Compendium.  She says different rules govern ferrets by
virtue of their classification -- this seems to be the main point.  It
seems she (or her office) also has some question of whether ferrets
are classified (by the Compendium and whatever other *approved*
sources, of which I think we should get an exhaustive list) as exotic
or domestic (though this point alone may not be enough -- the main
question is apparently how the *rules* apply; I haven't read the
Compendium, so I don't know the language).  I did tell her that every
source I'd looked at classified them as domestic.
 
3) CDC (Center for Disease Control) advice.  This is apparently
another major factor in their decision making process.  I should
have asked her what reports she's looking at.
 
Other points:
 
She said Imrab itself puts a disclaimer on the ferret rabies vaccine,
and she said (when I asked) that other animals do not have such a
disclaimer on their vaccines.
 
I mentioned there were only 12 (or was it 16?) cases of rabies since
1950, but she indicated that scientific studies or analysis of that
hadn't been done, or some such.  (I personally agree that the
comparisons with dogs and cats need to take into account animal
populations for each year and normalize, rather than a straight sum
and normalize, as I've seen people do, ignoring population changes,
but I didn't say that to her).
 
She verified that her office does have a Maryland bite case at this time.
 
She indicated that she sees the point ferrets are indoor animals, but
there is no absolute guarantee that a bite animal has not escaped at
some point or that the owner is not intentionally withholding escape
information (I mentioned the latter point, perhaps only too fairly).
 
She asked me what I would do in her office's situation, and (off the
top of my head) I said given the European studies (in conjunction with
the 25 days elapsed, but I didn't mention that) along with the strong
probability of complete indoor living, I would declare the possibility
of rabies as so close to zero as not to warrant the kill & test.  I
think her question about what I would do is a fair one.
 
She indicated (when I asked) that their office does get ferret bite
cases regularly, though she didn't have the exact figures in front of
her.
 
She said the European studies are not conclusive; I should have asked
whether the holdup there was scientific or just getting officially
approved American sources to agree with the studies (or even whether
there is such a possibility), or both.
 
Apparently, she is not (at least directly) a ferret hater.  I stress
again she was nice, polite, and professional.  I would suggest the
best tack would be to try to send any official documents and points we
have providing "approvable" evidence to change her office's behavior
by US mail or to her FAX number (410 669 4215).
 
Todd Cromwell
Dors (Hunter of Small Plastic Bottles) and Seldon (El Cazador de Sueno)
[Posted in FML issue 1080]