Sounds like there is some confusion about what ADV means.  ADV stands for
Aleutian Disease Virus.  Yes, if the CEP or ELISA test is positive then the
ferret has been exposed to this virus.  Neither test will produce a false
positive from the canine parvo vaccine or the mink parvo vaccine (mink
enteritis).  They are both specific for just the Aleutian Disease Virus.
I do not believe there are false positives with either test; however, there
may be some false negative tests with the ELISA test from Avecon.  The
ELISA test is design to test for a specific protein that is only produced
when the virus is actually replicating.  Sometimes the virus is not
replicating even though the ferret is still positive for the virus.  There
may also be a slightly longer lag phase for the virus to start replicating.
Thus the CEP test may pick up a positive before the ELISA test does.
Remember in this disease it is not the virus itself that is causing the
damage (except in young kits), it is the ferrets immune response to the
virus that is causing the damage and death.  That is why some ferrets can
be positive and have no signs of the disease or only mild signs of the
disease and others will have major signs of the disease and die from it.
 
Hope that helps clear up the confusion,
Jerry Murray, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3489]