To Ms. Sylvan who says that I am medically irresponsible:
 
I believe that you missed the point of the post.  While I agree that rubella
may not be fatal in school-age children, I was at a loss for another suitable
substitute.  While, I could, I suppose, draw on my own experience and use
plague or rabies vaccinations, which I have had and are life-threatening
diseases, most people would really not share that frame of reference.
 
I regret that your friend's daughter had a life-threatening reaction to the
rubella vaccine.  I do not however, believe that calls for a characterization
of me as "medically irresponsible." In Maryland, children are required legally
to be vaccinated for rubella before entering school.
 
Also, I believe that the readers of the FML are intelligent enough to realize
that I am not giving advice on rubella vaccination for children, but am simply
drawing an analogy in hopes to hammer home one of the most important tenets of
ferret ownership: vaccination.
 
While you are rebuking me as "medically irresponsible", please feel free to
overlook the following - almost 30 hours a week reading ferret cases AT NO
CHARGE for ferret owners around the country, 18 months posting on the FML and
watching other vets come and go (mostly go), or the twelve days last year I
spent away from my family lecturing to vets and ferret owners about ferret
diseases without a cent of reimbursement.  Don't worry about the months I
spent looking for money to investigate the Green Diarrhea, or the articles
published in the lay and scientific press.
 
My job does not involve ferrets, and never has.  What I do with and for
ferrets is on my own time, and at my own expense.
 
I regret that you have chosen one off topic analogy to take issue with me
over.  However, I do not feel that your characterization of me is accurate or
true.  I pologize to the FML for wasting their bandwidth for this response,
but it is something I feel strongly about.
 
[Moderator's note: This thread has the beginnings of a flame war and my fire
extinguisher is standing by in case it's needed.  (I sure hope someone doesn't
take that statement out of context... :-) BIG]
 
Bruce Williams, DVM  [log in to unmask] (202) 782-2600
[Posted in FML issue 1099]