By way of background information for the STAR Ferrets-Independent Voice
survey of ferret reactions to the distemper vaccines on the market, I have
uploaded three informative articles on the topic, previously published by
the VOICE, to the internet Web.  Though the articles by no means represent
the "last word" on the subject, they do contain a great deal of useful
information, including:
 
--results of the 1993 national survey of 1,300 owners reporting the
  frequency and circumstances of respondents' ferrets' reactions, broken
  down statistically by vaccine used, reaction symptoms, whether the vaccine
  was administered by owner or by veterinarian, location of the injection
  site on the ferret's body, and whether distemper was administered
  simultaneously with rabies vaccine;
 
--an interview with Roger Brady, director of sales and marketing for
  Wisconsin-based United Vaccines Inc., maker of FERVAC-D;
 
--an interview with Dr. Jim Walsh, a veterinarian with the professional
  services division of Minnesota-based Solvay Animal Health Inc., maker of
  FROMM-D and later GALAXY-D;
 
--interview with Dr. David E. Starling, DVM, with USDA's Veterinary Biologics
   Field Operations office in Ames, Iowa, the biologics specialist who has
   investigated reports of ferret fatalities and other adverse reactions to
   distemper vaccines;
 
--a discussion by Dr. Ron White, a professional services veterinarian with
  Solvay, of the technical biologic differences between FROMM-D and GALAXY-D;
 
--a discussion by Dr.  Bob Miller, USDA veterinarian with the Animal and
  Plant Health Inspection Service, of the USDA regulations mandating ferret
  testing of ALL canine distemper vaccines, and the differences between
  ferret virulent (FV) and ferret avirulent (FAV) canine distemper vaccines;
 
--and interviews with small breeders discussing their experiences with
  reactions to the various vaccines.
 
Subscribers with Web browsers may access these articles at the Ferret News
Kiosk site, http://www.csc.peachnet.edu/~rpoore/HDavis/news.html.  Others
wanting to get a copy can email me and I will send one.
 
Also, the vaccination questionnaire may be completed online by setting your
browser for http://www.csc.peachnet.edu/~rpoore/Ferrets/questionnaire.html.
I join Pam Grant in urging everyone who has not already done so to complete
the questionnaire, whether or not their ferrets have had adverse reactions
to any distemper vaccine.
 
Howard Davis
Co-Editor, Independent Voice
[Posted in FML issue 1328]