We attended the legislative committee hearing on February 22nd for the
Maryland quarantine bill.  It seemed like several committee members were on
our side.  They made the health department official concede that there are
no known cases of ferret-to-human rabies transmission.  Questioning by a
committee member also highlighted a serious flaw in the health department's
claim that a higher percent of ferrets than cats or dogs have tested
positive for rabies: this ``statistical'' information was based on A SINGLE
FERRET which constituted 2 percent of the ferrets tested during a given time
period in Maryland.  The health department official was also asked about the
efficacy of the rabies vaccine in ferrets and did not know.  It was good to
see that several committee members recognized the lack of logic in the
health department's position.  All the tough questions were aimed at the
health department.
 
Was anyone else from the FML there?  Does anyone know if the committee
voted on the bill yet?
 
Clare and Bill Sebok
[Posted in FML issue 1487]