Notwithstanding what Dr. Kemmerer said in her post forwarded by Susie
Sherman, the facts as I stated them are still the facts, as Kemmerer's own
words indicate.  Dr. K.  stated "the final phase of the raccoon portion is
finishing anytime now." As I said, it's not finished.  And "anytime now" can
cover a lot of territory.  Dr. K.  stated: "The bat portion is slated to
begin as soon as the funds are available." As I said about a week ago here,
the bat study has yet to begin; and the money to fund it is not there yet.
If Morris had already committed X dollars to the study, why is Kemmerer
begging everyone to send Morris money -- unless Morris is only agreeing to
send *our* money, if and when WE send it to Morris?!
 
Finally, Dr. Kemmerer asserts as a FACT that IF the bat studies show a less
than 10-day shedding period CDC "will officially and unequivocally recommend
a quarantine period" for ferrets.  Would that it were so!  But why doesn't
she actually attribute that statement to Rupprecht himself?  Doubtless
because he didn't say it.  And if this is truly the CDC's position, why
isn't Rupprecht or anyone else at CDC willing to sign their name to it?  I
have been urging this very course of action on Rupprecht for months now -
i.e., to make an unequivocal if-then commitment to the ferret community -
and while he's hemmed and hawed and whined about the ferret community's lack
of support, he's never actually been willing to make that kind of commitment.
 
The plain fact is, we don't know how long it's going to take just to
complete the bat studies - or how long it will take even to get them
started.  And we certainly don't know what it's going to take to satisfy the
CDC, NASPHV, and ACIP.
 
I personally believe don't believe the studies deserve support until and
unless CDC is willing to put a commitment in writing.  Otherwise, it's
simply a wild goose chase, which will probably give Dr. Suzanne Jenkins and
other avowed ferret enemies enormous satisfaction.
 
Howard Davis
[Posted in FML issue 1886]