RESEARCH CHANGES NATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FERRET QUARANTINE
MANHATTAN -- New research findings at Kansas State University may mean the
difference between life and death for ferrets that have bitten humans.
Speaking from the Rabies in the Americas conference this week in Kingston,
Ontario, Deborah Briggs, director of Kansas State University's Rabies
Laboratory, said that findings on the virus shedding period for ferrets
were presented to the Compendium of Animal Rabies Control Committee at
their annual meeting in October.
As a result of three years of research on the pathogenesis of North American
rabies virus strains, the Compendium of Animal Rabies Control Committee
voted to change regulations to allow quarantine of ferrets rather than
requiring euthanasia in bite cases. This research was conducted as a joint
effort between the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and Kansas State
University.
Recommendations by the Compendium of Animal Rabies Control Committee are
used by public-health veterinarians to make policy recommendations on
disposition of ferret bite cases, so Briggs' research will have wide
implications for the ferret community.
Until now, rabies control recommendations from the Compendium of Animal
Rabies Control Committee required that ferrets that have bitten humans be
euthanized. The change in the recommendations concerning ferrets that bite
humans will impact most, if not all, state rabies regulations, Briggs said.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is currently in the process
of rewriting the rabies regulations in Kansas to reflect these new
recommendations.
Briggs research suggests that ferrets may be observed for a period of 10
days, identical to the period recommended for dogs and cats in bite cases.
Although the first licensed rabies vaccine was approved for use in domestic
ferrets in 1990, healthy, vaccinated ferrets that bite humans routinely have
been euthanized and examined for rabies rather than being held and observed.
That happened, Briggs said, because there was a lack of information on
ferret response to rabies virus infection.
"Until we completed this research we didn't know how long the virus shedding
period was for ferrets," Briggs said. The shedding period is the time an
infected animal can pass the virus to another, most commonly through biting.
The three-year project was supported by the Morris Animal Foundation,
Intervet Inc., Rhone Merieux Inc., and Marshall Ferret Farms, with
cooperation from the Centers for Disease Control.
Briggs' laboratory does most of the testing of animals in the United States
going to rabies-free areas in the world.
"We conduct all rabies serological testing for animals owned by civilians
going to Hawaii," Briggs said. "Last year we tested 30,000 samples and this
year we will exceed that amount. We test most animals going to Australia,
New Zealand, British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Hong Kong, and other
rabies-free countries like Norway. Animal samples are submitted from
throughout the world. In addition we continue to conduct most serological
testing for humans that have been vaccinated. We are currently involved in
testing samples from France, Thailand, and are collaborating on a study to
investigate the immune response of immunosuppressed humans to rabies
vaccines.
"The laboratory is also the only rabies diagnostic laboratory in the state
of Kansas. We work closely with the Centers for Disease Control as far as
surveillance of rabid animals in Kansas is concerned."
For more information, contact Briggs at (785) 532-4455 or send her e-mail
her at [log in to unmask]
This release was prepared by Cheryl May, K-State News Services.
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Please note that the Compendium did not recommend kill and test of ferrets -
it recommended a case by case evaluation as did Dr. Briggs and Dr. Rupprecht.
Please print this off and send to your local newspapers, radio stations,
and tv stations. WE ALL need to do this, ASAP.
Hugs to all. tle
[Posted in FML issue 2117]
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