Danielle - you say that you think SOS should deny funding to shelters
that, in an attempt to protect the ferrets in their care, have a policy
of euthanizing ADV+ ferrets.  If you want to pass judgment on anyone - it
should be the shelters that house both ADV positive and negative ferrets,
and do not take proper precautions to protect the negatives.
 
Over the past 3 years I have learned a lot about ADV, and a lot of the
opinions I held before have changed as a result.
 
Perhaps your comments come from ignorance - perhaps you do not fully
understand ADV.  If that is the case, let me help you learn.
 
While it is true that a ferret may not continually shed the disease, there
is no easy way of knowing whether or not a ferret with ADV is contagious.
Currently, there is only one test I know of that will tell you whether
or not a ferret is shedding the virus.  It is called a PCR test, and
currently, there are no commercial labs that offer the test.  And, the
test is only good for the point in time when the blood was drawn.  By
the time you get the results from the test, the status may have changed.
Since a ferret with ADV will not show any symptoms to alert you that they
are in a shedding state, there is no way of knowing if a ferret that is
ADV+ is contagious or not.  When a ferret is shedding the disease, it is
highly contagious.  Direct contact with the infected ferret is not
necessary for another ferret to pick up the virus.  All that is necessary
is for a ferret to come in contact with microscopic particles of urine or
feces from the infected ferret.  And, because ADV is a parvo virus, it is
extremely hardy.  It can live outside a host body for a long time - one
study has shown up to 2 years.  It can not be killed with ordinary soap
and water, either.  Items must be disinfected with a parvocide.
 
While it is not impossible for a shelter to safely maintain both a
positive and a negative population, it is also not an easy matter.  There
are some shelters that are managing to successfully keep ADV+ ferrets
without exposing the negative population.
 
But there are also many shelters that have positives in their populations
that are not following the careful procedures needed to be safe, and
eventually they are going to end up infecting additional ferrets, either
in their shelter, or worse, in the general population of the ferret
community.  Consider this - it takes a minimum of 2 weeks after exposure
to ADV for the antibody level to reach a point where any ADV test will
catch it, and can take up to 8 weeks.  During that time, however, the
virus is in the animal's body, and the ferret can spread the disease.
In humans, cold and flu viruses can be spread before any symptoms show
up.  Likewise, with ADV, the recently infected ferret can be spreading
the disease before it tests positive.  So, if a shelter has a mixed
population, even if they run an ADV test on every ferret before it leaves
to go to a new home, if they have not followed proper procedures to insure
that there has been no spread within the shelter, they could be sending
out a ferret that (a) has been infected with ADV and (b) is shedding it.
To me, this is a far worse crime then humanely euthanizing a ferret that
is ADV+.
 
Danielle - you stated in your post that most ferrets with ADV will die
of other causes.  I would certainly like to know where you found this
information.  While it is true that ADV+ ferrets can get other problems
that will claim their lives before the ADV does, let me assure you that
ADV does kill.  Just ask Judy G, Julie F, Kris and Mary M. or any of the
many other people who have had ferrets die from ADV.
 
In a way, I suppose I should thank you for giving me this opportunity to
get on my soapbox and preach about the dangers of ADV.  With any luck,
someone new to ferrets will now know that ADV exists, and will be
concerned and will take the time to learn more about it.  Or, perhaps a
shelter that did not realize just how dangerous ADV can be will take the
time to rethink their policies.  At least, I can hope my words will have
some impact.
 
Unfortunately, though, I am afraid the biggest impact of all this will be
for some people to simply turn against 2 shelters that are really just
doing their job, and are trying to protect all ferrets.
 
Danee
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit  http://www.geocities.com/russiansmom
[Posted in FML issue 3823]