Well, I think I have half a clue as to the concern over the possibility of a
longer shed period with the bat variant of rabies virus in ferrets.  In the
1/15/97 JAVMA there was an article entitled "Prevelence of rabies in bats in
Michigan, 1981-1993).  (Yes, I called Robert Carrower and told him about the
article, so he is aware of it.)
 
It states:
"Furthermore, extended survival periods of bats infected with rabies have
been reported.  In 1 study 1 of 13 infected bats survived for more than 10
days after the virus was detected in the saliva.  One of the 4, a big brown
bat, survived for 24 days after having inflicted an infectious bite.  This
period, during which the bat expressees the virus in its saliva but has not
yet succumbed to the disease, mimics a carrier state whereby bat-to-bat bite
transmission maintains the endemic state of rabies within the local bat
population."
 
In other words, the fact that they live for so long in a contagious state,
they are able to spread the disease more than would occur with other
?variants?  ?vectors?  of rabies.  The question, when attempting to transfer
what is known about the disease in bats to other animals, is whether the
extended shed period is a feature of the virus variant, or the host.  No
light was shed on that topic in the article.
 
Later the article states:
"Although transmission between bats and other animals is now a proven fact,
its role in initiating or maintaining anzooitic rabies is not regarded as
important.  Wnen hundreds of isolates from regions enzootic for rabies in
bats and other animals were examined, almost all isolates from animals other
than bats contained rabies variant associated with rabies in the area, not
withrabies variants found in bats in the area.  In short, bats have been
nown other animals with rabies, but this type of transmission is not
important in the maintenance of endemic rabies in other animals."
 
In other words, they can transmit the disease to other animals, but they
hardley ever do.  Mostly they spread it amongst themselves.
 
I highly recommend adding a copy of that article to anyones resevoir of info
on rabies in case a problem comes up!
 
-Ilena Ayala
(Frothing at the mouth in NY over the Kodo case.  Don't worry, I've had my
shots, it's just the milk from my cappichino.)
[Posted in FML issue 1953]