I spoke with Dr. Eidson today.  She is the State Veteranarian, who provides
information to the counties in NY regarding how to handle bite cases.  NY
state recomendations read as follows: any animal that is not a dog, cat or
domestic livestock, and is suspected of beig rabid, must immediately be
killed & tested for rabies.  Dogs, Cats & Domestic Livestock have a 10 day
quarantine.  Ferrets are not cosidered domestic.
 
She said the only reason this policy has not changed, is that the rabies
shedding studies for the bat strain of the virus has not been completed.
NY policy will not change until then.  She did know about the studies on
Racoon & Skunk strains of the virus, and said the CDC has stated a ten day
quaranteen will work for a ferret for these specific strains of the virus.
However, until the bat strain is known, they will not change the official
policy.  She did say that the concern over ferrets contracting rabies is not
as great as it once was, and that common sense will usually dictate what
happens in a bite case.
 
NY is better than many states , in that the term "suspected of being rabid"
is part of the official policy.  This gives county public health officials
some leeway.  This can be enterpreted as, only animals that have an unknown
history (being outdoors, or having no vaccinations), or it could be taken as
any animal that bites should be considered rabid, and killed immediately.
This is why we need to contact each county, and also the state rabies lab to
find out which counties have the worst record when it comes to killing
ferrets.
 
She did mention that a while back in DC, there was a ferret that was given
rabies after being mated with a rabid ferret.  Schenectady county public
health told me the same story.  I had never heard of this case before.
Anyone outh there know the details?  I pointed out that one rabid ferret in
the entire country is nothing compared to the domestic animals that are
found to be rabid, in just one county.
 
I beleive I am going to FerretWorld.com to get the address of that shedding
study.  It is time to send a donation.  I had beleived until now that I did
not want to contribute to purposeful killing of ferrets for any reason.
Now, I think that a few must be sacrificed to alieviate the suffering of
Ferrets & their owners nationwide.  These tests must be completed if we are
ever to make any headway in any State.
 
Adrienne Williams
[Posted in FML issue 2049]