The latest word we had from "The Independent Voice" was that the Galaxy D is
made from the same virus strain as Fromm D.  It would appear that all
distemper vaccines ae tested on ferrets since they are so susceptible to the
disease.  All fall into to two categories:  Ferret virulent (FV) and ferret
avirulent (FAV).
The tests are to prove whether the vaccine can give the ferret the disease.
 All FAV vaccines must be clinically demonstrated to be harmless to ferrets.
 "That means that each lot of Master Seed Virus must be proven not to contain
wild canine viral contaminants to which ferrets are susceptible."
 
It seems that FV vaccines are to be phased out, possibly next year.  It would
be very doubtful that Solvay would begin to manufacture a vaccine that would
be unsellable next year.
 
We too received the Galaxy D vaccine in place of Fromm D and vaccinated a
number of ferrets in our shelter,  all without adverse reaction.  The virus
strain used is identical.  If the ferrets were effectively immunized using
Fromm D,  all of the ferrets should be now immune if you use Galaxy D.
 Remember though, that Fromm D has never been USDA approved for ferrets.
 It's just empirical data from many years, from many ferret owners that
indicate that it does work.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 1051]