>>To: [log in to unmask] (Susie Sherman)
>From: West End Animal Hospital
>Subject: Re: Ferret Rabies>
>
>Dr. Rupprecht called me back today. I was particularly anxious to speak with
>him because what I thought I knew and what Howard Davis said in the post you
>sent are very different things. The first thing Dr.R. said was if he had
>spent all the time on the phone with people on his research instead,
>it would probably be finished by now.  He's frustrated because people do
>not seem to understand what is really going on and are disseminating
>erroneous information.
>
>Based on Howard's post, it doesn't appear that any end is in sight for this
>project, and the facts are very different. First, the fox rabies portion was
>already completed in Europe some time ago, and falls in line with the skunk
>strain (ie, no shedding). Second, the final phase of the raccoon portion is
>finishing anytime now. The bat portion is slated to begin as soon as the
>funds are available, and CDC has no control over that. We all need to let
>Morris Animal Foundation know that we want them to fund it, and we need to
>send them money if we want to be taken seriously.  If they get this project
>funded soon, all the bat strains will be finished, all the results
>published, and a quarantine recommendation made in time for the next
>Compendium, which is late this year. Dr. R. fervently hopes and expects to
>be finished this year, so he can "get on with his life." He's being bugged
>to death by people who think he or CDC have some vested interest in
>prolonging this whole ordeal.
>
>We, the ferret community, must focus all available energy and monies to
>funding this last portion of the project so we may just GET IT DONE. We
>should encourage everyone to send a donation NOW to Morris Animal Foundation
>and have it tagged for the Ferret Rabies Research Project. I'm sending $50
>right now, and I encourage anyone who can spare $5 to send it!
>
>Morris Animal Foundation
>45 Inverness Drive East
>Englewood, CO 80112-5480
>
>Specify Ferret Rabies Shedding Study Account
>
>
>This is the time when we MUST all quit whining and fighting, and pull
>together or this whole project will die a slow death and NEVER be finished.
>Many more ferrets will die needlessly.  I want to put a huge, very
>noticeable post on FML about this. How would I go about it?
>
>That is what I was trying to tell Marie. She's expending a lot of energy on
>something that will almost take care of itself if this project gets
>finished, and it's so CLOSE I can taste it.  Virtually all state health
>department policies are dictated by CDC and the Rabies Compendium. If the
>bat strain falls in the 10-day shed parameters (which everyone involved in
>the research seems to expect), the CDC will officially and unequivocally
>recommend a quarantine period and all state health officials will abide by
>that, although we may have to shake a few trees to get the apples falling,
>as it were.
>
>Dr. Kemmerer
>
>PS: Yes, I'd be very happy for you to publish our web address. Some people
>may b**ch about the consult fee, but I simply can't afford to spend thirty
>minutes a day giving out free advice. I'm a solo practitioner and I have to
>make a living. Bill usually answers all the non-specific questions, and I
>don't charge for those ("what's the best thing to feed a ferret?"). Specific
>case consults can be time-consuming and tricky.
[Posted in FML issue 1886]