>If it is aleutian disease, are my regular ferrets at risk?  Could they
>already have contracted it?
 
Yes to both.  The incubation period is up to a year, so they may not show
any symptoms.
 
>Is there any known treatment?  Any experimental treatment?
 
No to both.  Nor is there any likelyhood of anyone developing a vaccine due
to the nature of the disease.
 
>How contagious is this disease?
 
It's airborne, so it could spread rather easily.  The risk zone is estimated
to be around 5 km.
 
For mink it's very contagious (at least for some which is the reason for its
name), possibly and not unlikely also for ferrets.  (There may be different
but similar strains of virus for mink and ferrets, not that I think it
matters if it's ferrets who've got it.)
 
The virus is also very long lived outside of the body: On one mink farm
which was disinfected and left without any animals for two years the mink
still got it when they were put there.
 
>Do I need to quarrantine my shelter completely?
 
Until you know it's probably a good idea to be careful.
 
But you shouldn't panic until you know. This could be something else
entirely.
 
--
 Urban Fredriksson   [log in to unmask]
 http://www.alfaskop.net/%7Egriffon/ferrets/
[Posted in FML issue 2070]