Ilena E. Ayala posted:
 
>"Randy Sellers ("mcduff") wrote:
>>and then we have to take into account environmental factors (remember
>>rabies acts differently in New York than in New Mexico).  I'm not making
>>this up.  This comes from a conversation I had with Suzanne Jenkins years
>>ago when she was in charge of the Compendium committee.
>
>Could you please elaborate on this?  I have no idea what she would have
>meant by this statement.  The virus is what it is; I would expect it to act
>the same in a dog that lives in NY or New Mexico....
>The different varients may show slightly different 'behaviors' in terms of
>incubation period, shedding, etc., but I wouldn't call those environmental
>factors.
 
I'm afraid I really can't elaborate too much more except to say that the
comments come from a conversation I had with S. Jenkins shortly after the
approval of IMRAB for use in ferrets.  Back when I though that giving rhese
people what they were asking for might lead to an end to the ferret
killings.  It is now over 6 years later and we are still chasing the carrot
and I, Personally, don't see any real shift in policy from what Jenkins told
me on the phone those many years ago.
 
To Bob Church
>The rabies Can-O-Worms.  I understand how important and emotional this
>issue is, and not knowing much about the players, I may be out of line.  But
>I have to say that I kind of feel sorry for Dr. Ruprecht.  Getting stuff
>done in science is slow; it takes peer review, and you just can't cut many
>corners.  Those that have invariably regret the process....
>
>I'm not suggesting he not be held accountable for promises, I'm not saying
>the way ferrets are being treated is fair.  All I'm saying is science has a
>specific procedure to follow where one step is completed before the next
>step is taken....
 
I agree that caution must be excersised to make sure your data is correct.
But I don't think that applies in this case.  The skunk rabies data was
presented at Reno years ago, the raccoon was presented the next year, bat
was just completed and presented last month, dog/coyote completed but not as
yet presented.  Yet NONE of this data has been published.  I have talked to
several people in the scientific community and they all say that to withold
publication of findings this long is highly suspect.  That is unless the
purpose in not publishing is to attempt to generate more research.  If Dr.
Ruprecht is really concerned about the public health aspects of rabies in
ferrets you'd think he would want his data peer reviewed as soon as it is
complete to end this question once and for all.  I feel it has reached the
point where Dr. Ruprecht is hurting is crediblity more by being a politician
than by any flaws in his research.  If it is good enough to present to the
public health community why isn't it good enough to publish??
 
Rob Dick:
>What's the story here?  We're rabies free in Oz, and if the good folk at
>Customs and Immigration keep up their excellent work we'll remain so.  Who's
>been infecting our monotremes?  Come on, own up..."
 
It's called sarcasm, mate.  It is a reference to a comment made in an
earlier posting about funding the bat strain, the elephant strain, etc. and
don't forget the platypus strain.  Don't let your public health people hear
this but I've heard that Dr. Ruprecht might be doing some secret research
which alleges that the invisible Houdini bat (native to Michigan but
spreading across the US rapidly) might be capable of transcontinental
migrations.  This has Hawaii very worried and could spell trouble for
islands like yours and Great Britain.
[Posted in FML issue 2113]