>Turns out they had a convenient loophole: the Compendium says that a "stray
>or unwanted dog, cat or ferret" may be killed for testing immediately.
 
It's not an entirely unreasonable loophole.  With strays, the potential for
exposure is higher, and the vaccination status is unknown.  Another unknown
is the animals 'normal' behavior, which is what the earliest part of a
quarantine needs to compare it's current behavior against.  Animals
developing rabiesdon't always become tame, nor do they always become nasty.
What is noticed sometimes is a *change* from their normal personality; a
gentle animal may stop being gentle; a nasty animal may become calm.
 
When a person is going to start rabies treatment, the sooner the better.  In
an ideal situation, you know right away whether to start treatment or not,
rather than even ten days later.  With ferrets, the animal would be dead
well within the quarantine period if it was capable of transmitting the
virus at the time of the bite.  It would be nice if they let if have a few
days to try to locate the owner though.
 
Offering to be a local quarantine area is a great way to encourage local
animal control to follow the Compendium recommendations.
 
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a national vaccination database?  Microchip
a ferret (or dog or cat), scan them at rabies vaccination time and input the
rabies vaccination expiration date (one year for ferrets, varies 1-3 years
by vaccine with other animals) into the national database.  When the animal
is picked up by the shelter, imagine if not only can they track the owner,
they can look at the vaccination status and have it handy even if the
owner's contact info is outdated.  (So if a ferret was vaccinated within the
past year, and since the last trip to the vet the ferret changed hands or
the owner moved, they still know the animal is vaccinated!)
 
>[Moderator's note: I don't understand how it's such as "taxpayer expense"
>to house a ferret for 10 days compared to the cost of taking it to a vet,
>killing it, packing the remains in ice, shipping it, doing the expensive
>assay test, transmitting the results...  BIG
 
Oh sure, confuse the issues with the facts!  :-) Actually it might be more
of an issue of whose budget it comes out of-the local shelter would probably
pay for a quarantine, but I'd guess the state would pay for a kill and test
as a public health issue.  If a kill and test keeps someone off the vaccine
series, it is easily the cheaper option.
 
A full post exposure vaccination for rabies costs about $1000 (cost varies
somewhat by the weight of the patient).
 
>This rabies compendium, is it for the US only or can us Canadians give it
>to our vets too?
 
It's meant as a guideline for US Agencies, but heck, if you don't have
separate guidelines in Canada (anyone know if there are separate ones
for Canada?  I don't remember seeing any but I haven't gone looking for
them either.)
 
Queens University Geographic Information Systems Laboratory might know, they
have rabies info and stuff on the annual international rabies meeting at
their website, try http://www.gs.queensu.ca I haven't been to the site
recently though.
 
Locally, you could ask your vet or public health official what the national
guidelines for Canada are based on.  If you find out let the rest of us
know!
 
-Ilena Ayala
Rabies Resources for Ferret Lovers are at:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ilena/rabies.htm
[Posted in FML issue 2306]