Okay, I would first of all like to alleviate some fears about the H1N1
flu. I am a nurse at a large hospital 45 minutes away from my small
hometown. I have seen a lot of cases of both types of flu - seasonal
and H1N1.

First of all, unless you are a medical professional or know someone who
is, you probably aren't aware of this fact that I'm about to give you.
When you go to the doctor to have him or the nurse test you to see if
you have the flu and what type of flu it is, the test doesn't say
POSITIVELY that you have the H1N1 strain of flu. It just tells the
doctor or nurse that you have Influenza A or that the flu type you have
doesn't fall under the recommended strains of the seasonal flu. Since
H1N1 has been declared an emergency and is now at pandemic levels, most
doctors assume that the patient has H1N1 so that they can treat the
virus more aggressively. The test that tests for the exact strain of
flu takes several days and even weeks and obviously doctors don't have
that kind of time.

Second of all, the reason the flu spreads so fast is because people
are horrible about washing their hands and coughing all over the place.
All you have to do is cough and have someone else breathe in a single
contaminated droplet of your saliva to spread it. And a lot of people
spread the virus before they have symptoms.

So, to avoid spreading the virus to other people and your fuzzies you
will need to be extra diligent. More than you already are. You should
probably wear a mask. Think about your shelter more as a clinic or
hospital than a shelter. Use gloves and change them before handling
another cage of ferrets. Regularly sanitize surfaces such as doorknobs,
telephones, handles, scoops, toys, etc. Wash your hands and use hand
sanitizer as much as possible. Make other people who are around the
fuzzies wear masks and gloves as well. If you or someone has to cough
or sneeze, turn your face into your shirt at your shoulder and sneeze
or cough into it - by doing this, you are not sneezing into your hand
(or a tissue in your hand) and spreading the virus.

Also, don't forget to sanitize public things too - such as shopping
carts (esp. the handles). The flu virus can live for up to 8 hrs on
surfaces.

I just got over the H1N1 flu - and I did test positive for the H1N1
strain - and because of my carefulness, my fuzzies and my family
remained flu-free. I wore a mask the entire time, washed my hands
frequently, sanitized everything, and wore gloves when handling my
fuzzies. I still monitor them for symptoms but nothing yet!

Melissa

http://www.zazzle.com/china_cat84*
http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbymelissa

"Only a ferret can successfully steal your heart and keep you from
ever finding it again!" ~ Myself

[Posted in FML 6504]