Recently a response from the FHL was crossposted here (it was on vaccine
duration).  I wrote the original post to the FHL and because none of my
original post was forwarded I am sending it now.  I appreciate you
forwarding these posts to this list for the benefit of others Sukie, but
in this case I feel the actual questions should of been sent along with
the reply.  I am also sending it here in the hopes that maybe others
can point me in the right direction for the answers I seek.
 ---
 
Hello, I am writing because of a recent discussion on another group I
belong to.  In my personal research into vaccines I have found the reason
for our ferrets (cats & dogs, too) to get a series of vaccinations is
because we are not sure when the maternal immunities wear off so the
series is an attempt to catch all of them.  I was told that this was not
true with ferrets, that the distemper vac actually needs the series to
booster the immune system.  Is this true, and if so can you point me
somewhere so I may see the scientific data to back this up?
 
Next, studies on the duration of immunity show that a vaccine lasts well
over a year and yearly vaccinations are not only unnecessary but could be
harmful to our pets.  In fact,the AVMA Journal (1996 #208) states that
there is no scientific evdidence to support annual revaccinations.  I
have been unable to find any info relating to ferrets, only dogs and
cats.  Is the ferret different in that they do need the yearly booster?
And if so, again I would ask for some scientific evidence of that.  I
also wonder why our pets are so different from people in the fact that
we do not get yearly boosters?
 
I am in no way trying to say that ferrets should not be vaccinated, but I
do believe we do overvaccinate our pets and the effects of that are being
passed down through the generations and that could be one part of the
puzzle of why we are seeing more diseases and problems in our pets.
Because of some recent outbreaks of distemper in vaccinated ferrets it
also has me questioning either the vaccines themselves and if they work,
or if we are contributing to failures by compromising the immune system
with the repeated assault on it.
 
I am sending along some links, again they are dog related but I have been
unable to find any ferret related ones.
 
http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/health/common/vaccinations.html
 
http://www.ivis.org/advances/Infect_Dis_Carmichael/schultz/
chapter_frm.asp?LA=1
 
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/vaccines2.html
 
Thank you very much for your time,
 
~Amy~
[Posted in FML issue 3957]