On the advice of the lawyer involved I'm posting some of the info I
have found to help with the upcoming service ferret case in Canada.
The lawyer thinks that it would be good if websites would include
information all together on this score since there have been and are
times when it is badly needed.
What I post in these posts may be carried and posted -- without
alteration and in complete form -- to any pro-ferret websites or blogs
of others and to any pro-ferret newsletters, magazines, or other news
service. Alterations done without my permission or carrying this
information to an anti-ferret location will be considered a violation
of copyright. The information may also be used by those wishing to
send messages for advancing pro-ferret court cases, to improve the
files of organizations which serve those with handicaps, and in letters
to politicians to advance the knowledge of ferrets.
Alternatively, pro-ferret people are always welcome to utilize these
links and write their own articles and letters to help ferrets, of
course!
Some information which the lawyer has, such as hard-found but private
contact information, some pdfs, etc. will not appear here, nor will
most (perhaps all) abstracts -- which are legal to post but I am trying
to save space and know people can look them up.
Rabies info:
http://www.nasphv.org/
(National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians)
Here is the latest (Dec 2007 and it will being the Jan 2008 JAVMA
(Journal of the American Medical Veterinary Association)
Compendium of Animal Rabies Control and Prevention:
http://www.nasphv.org/Documents/RabiesCompendium.pdf
...
Notice in Section III for IMRAB 3:
>Ferrets 1 ml 3 months Annually SC
which is species, dose, age of first vaccination, how often to
repeat, how to give the vaccine. Ferrets are NOT considered to be
vaccinated if more than a year has passed.
More rabies info:
http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/rabies_control.asp
(Guidelines for ordinances)
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/
(Loads of info at many different reading levels; even good ones as
resources for a kid's school composition)
http://www.microbiologybytes.com/virology/bushmeat/bush4.html
http://www.vaccineinformation.org/rabies/qandadis.asp
http://www.lawrencefire.com/safety_tips/rabies/rabies.asp
FDA Veterinarian Newsletter, May/June 1991, Vol VI, No.III
has a long article which goes into bite rates but is not readily
available to those who do not already have copies, though references
to it can be found. (The lawyer for this case has been forwarded a
copy of the article.)
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr57e507a1.htm
Might be useful:
http://www.animallaw.info/articles/arus74fordhamlrev2847.htm
The Animal Legal and Historical center
Also (and this data was from BEFORE the 1998 improvement to the
regulations for ferrets implicated in or accused of bites):
>Abstract
>Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
>July 15, 2000, Vol. 217, No. 2, Pages 190-194
>doi: 10.2460/javma.2000.217.190
>
>Animal bite epidemiology and surveillance for rabies postexposure
>prophylaxis
>
>Dale A. Moore , DVM, PhD William M. Sischo , DVM, PhD
>Allison Hunter , BS Toni Miles , MD, PhD
>Department of Biobehavioral Health, College of Health and Human
>Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
>16802. (Moore); Department of Population Health and Reproduction,
>School of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Medicine Teaching and
>Research Center, University of California, Tulare, CA 93274. (Sischo,
>Hunter); Department of Family Practice, College of Medicine,
>University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San
>Antonio, TX. (Miles)
> ...
>
>Procedur--Data from animal bite reports from Pennsylvania county health
>offices were summarized for 1995. Animal bite incidences for the state,
>counties, various age groups, and various population densities were
>calculated. Animal species, treatment, location of wounds, and PEP
>recommendations were evaluated for exposures.
>
>Result--More than 16,000 animal-related potential rabies exposures were
>reported from 65 of 67 counties in Pennsylvania. The highest incidence
>was in children less than 5 years old (324/100,000). Of the 75% of
>victims requiring wound treatment, 50% received antimicrobials, 29%
>received a tetanus toxoid, and 19% had wounds sutured, were admitted
>to hospitals, or were referred for plastic surgery. Although 75% of
>exposures were to dogs, victims exposed to cats were 6 times as likely
>to receive PEP (relative risk, 6.1; 95% confidence interval, 5.1 to
>7.4). Thirty percent of 556 PEP were given for exposures to dogs, 44%
>for cats, 7% for raccoons, 4% for bats, 2.5% for squirrels, 2.1% for
>groundhogs, 2% for foxes, and 8% for exposures to other species.
>Fifty-nine percent of owned dogs were up-to-date on rabies vaccinations
>compared with 41% of owned cats.
A member vet should be able to get you the article from
<http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.2000.217.190?journalCode=javma>
http://www.dadehealth.org/downloads/epi_monthly_july_2006.pdf
also has a comparative chart
Georgia apparently had NO (?) reported ferret bites from 2004-2006 but
charts for other animals:
http://health.state.ga.us/pdfs/epi/gers/Nov07GER.pdf
http://www.kcmo.org/health/pdf/Rabies_and_Animal_Bite_5th_ed_web.pdf
is the worst I've found and here it is in pdf:
http://www.bsas.org.uk/downloads/Vol69Part2_Oct_1999.pdf
is supposed to have something from the UK but it is not opening right
now so I don't know if it is relevant
[continued...]
<http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/letters/story.html?id=247c9d14-88af-4781-8feb-39fe8932ad81>
www.wolfysluv.com/sean.html
<http://en.allexperts.com/q/Ask-Veterinarian-700/Ferrets-continuing-care-facilities.htm>
http://www.ferretrescue.ca/links.php
http://www.supportourshelters.org/SOS-ShelterList.html
http://www.ferret.org/links/shelters.html#Canada
http://ferrethealth.org/vets/intl.txt
http://www.ferret.org/links/vets.html
Segment of discussion:
If the allergists are not the ones associated with a university is
having an allergy professor from a university an option? If not, then
perhaps a representative of a company which makes the compounds needed
for shots or SLIT might be willing to brag about how they are filling
an "orphan" niche to get some publicity while emphasizing the rarity? I
have heard that the Mayo Clinic provides such things but have NOT had
any cause to verify it.
At least three family groups are using ferrets for seizure alerts:
<http://www.extremeweezils.com/ewfriends.html#cerino>
<http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/media/critter-news/legal-news/ferrets-cause-eviction.aspx.pdf>
<http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/letters/story.html?id=7bfb0564-303b-4bf9-a419-25656c03d919>
A ferret who has helped an autistic child recover:
http://www.modernferret.com/pressreleases/sean.html
http://www.wolfysluv.com/seanval.html
http://www.wolfysluv.com/bb.html
In my own situation our furnace malfunctioned while my husband was out
on a morning walk. Hilbert, a very trustworthy ferret, was out of the
cage at the time. I was sleeping in and due to my asthma was beginning
to having breathing problems from the fumes. Hilbert climbed the bed
and gently and persistently kissed and nuzzled my face until I was
aware enough to force myself up, turn off the furnace, and vent our
home. My husband came home later to find us all huddled in the cold
but clean breeze from an open door.
Although i had thought that Hilbert merely saved me from a nasty asthma
attack my physician said that he more likely saved my life and that of
the other household pets as well as his own.
I've read of 4 or 5 times when ferrets alerted humans to house fires
and in doing so saved their families, but do NOT have refs for those
though i guess i can try searches when I get a bit of free time.
Discussion segments:
Years ago a friend had to deal with a case here in NJ where a local
health officer was insisting that ferrets are dangerous wild animals
and that our Fish and Game (which licenses ferrets) in state documents
considered them to be such.
The case was dropped by that township that first day in court as soon
as they saw that we had the head of that state division and the head
state Public Health Veterinarian listed as witnesses for the plaintiff.
...
Having a large enough computer copy of the DaVinci painting with
the ferret made it obvious to people that ferrets have a long history
as treasured pets.
http://www.doctorbeer.com/joyce/ferrets/frhistpg.htm
Not huge but a halfway reasonable size:
http://www.artwatchinternational.org/db_images/08_n_LadyWithErmine.jpg
On the advice of the lawyer involved I'm posting some of the info I
have found to help with the upcoming service ferret case in Canada.
The lawyer thinks that it would be good if websites would include
information all together on this score since there have been and are
times when it is badly needed.
What I post in these posts may be carried and posted -- without
alteration and in complete form -- to any pro-ferret websites or blogs
of others and to any pro-ferret newsletters, magazines, or other news
service. Alterations done without my permission or carrying this
information to an anti-ferret location will be considered a violation
of copyright. The information may also be used by those wishing to send
messages for advancing pro-ferret court cases, to improve the files of
organizations which serve those with handicaps, and in letters to
politicians to advance the knowledge of ferrets.
Alternatively, pro-ferret people are always welcome to utilize these
links and write their own articles and letters to help ferrets, of
course!
Some information which the lawyer has, such as hard-found but private
contact information, some pdfs, etc. will not appear here, nor will
most (perhaps all) abstracts -- which are legal to post but I am trying
to save space and know people can look them up.
[continued...]
Involved ferrets and other pets:
Chest. 2005 May;127(5):1565-71.
Effect of pet removal on pet allergic asthma.
Shirai T, Matsui T, Suzuki K, Chida K. Department of Internal Medicine,
Fujinomiya City General Hospital, 3-1 Nishiki-cho, Fujinomiya,
418-0076, Japan.
http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/reprint/127/5/1565
Codina R, Reichmuth D, Lockey RF, Jaen C. Ferret Allergy. J Allergy
Clin Immunol. 2001;107:927. Division of Allergy and Immunology,
Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida College of
Medicine and James A. Haley V.A. Hospital, Tampa, FL 33612-4745, USA.
http://health.usf.edu/medicine/internalmedicine/allergy/Faculty1.htm
Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, University of
South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA.
http://health.usf.edu/medicine/mpp/faculty.htm
Nugent JS, Whisman B, Hagan LL.
Ferret Allergy: Identification of Serum Specific IgE to Albumin with
Crossreactivity to Cat.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003;111:S324 Department of Medicine, Uniformed
Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
http://www.usuhs.mil/faculty.htm
http://allergies.about.com/od/animalandpetallergy/a/ferretallergy.htm
About.com on allergies to ferrets by Daniel More, MD
http://centralcoastallergy.com/
<http://medschool.ucsf.edu/faculty/index.asp?cmd=SearchList&OldCmd=AdvQuery&ctlSelID=79015>
<http://pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/oeme/abstract.00022707-200511000-00006.htm>
Can not bring up the full article (which will hopefully have charts or
rates) but notice this conclusion:
Conclusions: This study suggests that the risk of LAA increases with
duration of exposure to animals and work in animal related tasks.
Incidence might be reduced by limiting hours per week of exposure to
laboratory animals.
Pet allergy (in general ) rates in children (most will be to cats, but
dogs, horses and possibly some others will be more common allergens
than ferrets:
<http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iuatld/ijtld/2001/00000005/00000011/art00012>
The Google Scholar search link mentions percentages:
Incidence of asthma diagnosis and self-reported allergy in relation to
the school environment...G Smedje, D Norback - Int J Tuberc Lung Dis,
2001 - ingentaconnect.com... In 1993, pollen and pet allergies were
reported by 9.8% and 8.2% of pupils, respectively
Full text: [Link below has expired... sorry :-( BIG]
<http://docstore.ingenta.com/cgi-bin/ds_deliver/1/u/d/ISIS/45361294.1/iuatld/ijtld/2001/00000005/00000011/art00012/B004149C488C15B412178075968FF961EBD014BA62.pdf?link=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/error/delivery&format=pdf>
<http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118716461/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0>
A general pet allergy write-up in:
<http://www.gerber.com/content/usa/html/pages/pediatricbasics/pdffiles/PedBasics_095.PDF>
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S003139550570362X
The following actually involve mink or fur trade animals or their pelts
or waste in general, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE ALSO
LOOKED AT *FITCH* (ferrets used for fur) so their contact info is
included as well links to the abstracts
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9476806
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15592872
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12397421
General on animal allergy cross-reactivity (ex. of cross-reactivity:
people who are allergic to cats who are also allergic to ferrets):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9003217
Part of discussion: SO, what is needed is to illustrate how many, many
allergens bus drivers and passengers are exposed to already and how
those are far more likely to cause allergy problems than the ferrets
would. One very straight-forward way to do this would be to show how
hard it is for allergists to get the ferret allergen for shots or for
SLIT (sublingual immunotherapy). The products for dog and cat allergies
are made by loads of places because they are such common allergies,
but allergies to ferrets are rare so there isn't much market for the
product meaning that the product is hard to find. It's like getting it
for pine allergy. Pine allergies are rare so few places make it for
that. On the other hand oak allergies are common and rag weed allergies
even more so so those are easier to get. Most people should understand
that comparison because so many react to ragweed and so few react to
pine.
Mention that secure carriers protect ferrets. After all, the woman can
touch the ferret through the bars, and even people who use ferrets as
seizure alert animals can still be warned by caged ferrets because
their agitation levels would be high and they could even scream (a
rare occurrence for a ferret, as you know).
There is a lot of bad "info" out there and even worse assumptions about
allergies...
On the advice of the lawyer involved I'm posting some of the info I
have found to help with the upcoming service ferret case in Canada.
The lawyer thinks that it would be good if websites would include
information all together on this score since there have been and are
times when it is badly needed.
What I post in these posts may be carried and posted -- without
alteration and in complete form -- to any pro-ferret websites or blogs
of others and to any pro-ferret newsletters, magazines, or other news
service. Alterations done without my permission or carrying this
information to an anti-ferret location will be considered a violation
of copyright. The information may also be used by those wishing to send
messages for advancing pro-ferret court cases, to improve the files of
organizations which serve those with handicaps, and in letters to
politicians to advance the knowledge of ferrets.
Alternatively, pro-ferret people are always welcome to utilize these
links and write their own articles and letters to help ferrets, of
course!
Some information which the lawyer has, such as hard-found but private
contact information, some pdfs, etc. will not appear here, nor will
most (perhaps all) abstracts -- which are legal to post but I am
trying to save space and know people can look them up.
[Posted in FML 6060]
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