FML'ers,

I've had our ferret's out in public twice in the last 6 weeks. We
already went through 27 sneezing ferrets in August when we picked up 3
ill ferrets from Hanover AC.  All were treated with Amoxicillin &
Baytril- all recovered fine. But now I have more sneezing- There are 2
confirmed cases/deaths with ferrets
in the US so far- Oregon & Nebraska.  I'm in VA.
I've spent this entire day trying to get a lab to agree to test 3 of my
ferrets. So F*****g  frustarting- My vet had already called his lab
ahead my visit to ask what to do exactly. They (in TX ) told him it
would be a blood test needed to be sent off???? I told him no, Oregon
State U. had used nasal swabs. Don't know yet about the NE cases where
the ferret " Stormy" died. My vet asked me if I'd help by calling
around to find a lab that could do our nasal swabs. I had no idea what
it would involve.
I started with UVA where we picked upover 175 ferrets since 2001 for
inflenza testing- Jenna gave me Dr. Kessler's phone#- He remembered
meeting me - and had no clue who could test. He DID know about the OR
case- he had already forwarded that info to the CDC in Atlanta- they
are up to their asses with human stuff- so they are blowing off any
animal issues. Dumb,Dumb,Dumb. Dr. Kessler gave me the numbers /names
for the VVMA here in VA- also for the USDA. Robin at the VVMA was the
biggest airhead I've ever spoken to- she was unaware that ferrets could
even catch any flu- and said they couldn't do s**t until I had a
confirmed case here in VA. I emailed her all of the info on both
cases-So I call the USDA- they were also clueless. I tried Va. Tech- no
luck. I finally call Virginia State Dept. Vet Director- Karen- she
asked some questions, said she'd call back. She did- only to say that
there was a "Gauntlet to run"- I had to be ill myself,or have a vet
comfirm symptoms before they would consider testing. And even then,it
has to be run through Aimes Idahoe lab for an ok. We have our vet's
confirmation- she's going to call him tomorrow- but he's leaving after
tomorrow for a vet conference. What S**T! Meanwhile,I'm hitting
everyone with Amoxi- which is all I can do right now- all of the
sneezing ferrets are still eating.. I'm sneezing and feel like crap-and
don't have the time or money to go to my DR.. and it occurs to me...
what about all of the thousands of ferrets for sale in pets stores
across the country?  People don't know that ferrets can get flu- they
won't notice their ferret is ill- just say "ooops, Dead ferret" and
chuck it in the garbage. But also, once the public does learn about
ferrets & H1N1, then our shelters will all be ...hell... I can't even
think of the word to describe the massive amounts of dumping. Ideally,
Marshall's, Path Vally,Triple F , Animals Etc., etc. should stop
shipping ferrets to distributors until this is resolved. All sorts of
shelters are already reporting dozens of their ferrets sneezing,etc.
So, I'm gonna keep at it-Anyone who has a ferret that's sneezing, or
their family is/has been ill and the ferret is sneezing, needs to
hammer their vet's office for testing. I don't think this is an
over-reaction. It's common sense and precaution. What is there to lose?
Look at how long it took the CDC to address the Aids problem- I suppose
gays were at the bottom of the totem pole, just like ferrets are now.
They just don't understand the threat to humans.

Boy, am I wiped out for the day.
Anyone else with ideas, recommendations?

Marlene Blackburn
Director
RFRL

[Posted in FML 6506]