Just because we now have our quarantine in N.J.  doesn't mean that all the
work is done.  Think of all the people who need to know about the change in
rabies-exposure and biting-incidents policy for ferrets.  The state health
department will, of course, notify the smaller health departments and I
expect they'll tell the hospitals which should tell their affiliated
physicians, but think of all the vets who don't know, yet.  You can make a
dent by letting the vets in your area know.
 
I know this seems sudden; in a way it is.  Personally, I expected the
changes to begin a number of months after the final shedding report.  Having
this policy change which so helps our ferrets begin immediately was a shock,
to me as well.  We are lucky in having a VERY logical state public health
vet in charge of this decision, and lucky that the red tape problems which
hamper other states had been ironed out, but don't forget that for years and
years those of us in this effort in N.J.  also have been politely getting
all new information through to the right people -- often painsakingly
following the "proper" channels for doing so.  These actions ( and lack of
flaming ) built bridges rather than burning them.  ( I'm not saying that
folks here can't play hardball, but that's best reserved for when it's
definitely needed and then done with such cool precision that failure
becomes unthinkable.  With our state departments it NEVER was needed; they
have been logical from day one in relation to what was known at any given
time.  ) Don't take my word for this as a route to success; check with the
other states with quarantines or pending quarantines and you'll find people
who nurtured contacts in the right places.
 
Wish I had more details to give, but Dr. Sorhage was in the process of
getting the information out and I did not want to delay her from THAT.  Your
vet will know the rules for dogs and cats; those are what will be applied to
ferrets.
 
Next move: thank you snail mail cards to those who got us to this point.
Contacts ARE important, so is being kind enough to express your gratitude,
and big enough to admit it.
 
Anne Ryan is working on press releases.  If you see, read, or hear a report
soon she's the one who did that.
 
The only reason you are hearing all this from me is that I just happened to
be preforming the right chore at the right time; there has been a good sized
effort here in N.J.  with a number of people responding to the needs of FEEL
(headed by Ela Heyn and Anne Ryan) and doing the work needed to get us to
this point.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2116]