[Moderator's note: Since Sam is about to go off to her wedding I forwarded
all the ADV responses to her before this FML in case she wanted to respond
before the wedding and caught the e-mail.  She has done so... BIG]
 
Judy wrote:
>Sam...I am SO proud of you for speaking up and posting this.  I know it
>was NOT an easy thing to do.
 
You're right, I've been debating whether I should post sooner rather than
later, and have spoken with owners of my ferrets (those who responded to my
private note to them earlier) about whether or not I should post publicly,
and when it should be posted.  Eventually, I just decided to post now,
rather than waiting until I return.
 
Even though a vast majority of people not only wouldn't have my ferrets,
they would never have met them (nor would they ever get the chance *to*
meet them) I felt that getting the news 'out in the open' would not just
get people in general to know that ADV is more widespread than previously
suspected, but also help New Zealanders (who have repeatedly been told that
"there is no ADV in New Zealand") realise there is evidently a problem here
also.
 
I spent weeks talking with MAF officials, being told that there was no
problem here, and months defending that position because I believed what
I'd been told by the people who *should* have known.
 
Thank you Judy, I appreciate your support, and know that you've learned
about ADV (and people's responses) the hard way.  *hugs*
 
<snip - leaving the below unsnipped for reference>
>Please just know that ADV is much more widespread than even we first
>believed.  PLEASE test your ferrets.  The new saliva test is extremely
>simple to do and is not at all expensive.  The information for that test
>can be found at:
> http://www.avecon.com/AveconADV.htm
>
> Please give to Aleutian Disease research...the ferret you save may be
>your own!
 
Joanne wrote:
> I'm sure that there are some individuals who felt a degree of pleasure
>or satisfaction from reading Sam's post about ADV and some New Zealand
>ferrets.  Shame on you if you did.  This has been a very painful situation
>for a lot of people.  I have in my possession a document from the New
>Zealand government telling me very clearly that there was no Aleutians in
>New Zealand.  There was no reason for *anyone* to doubt that.
 
*hugs* Thanks Joanne, I appreciate the note, especially considering Kiwi's
positive status.
 
Anonymous posted:
>I want to know how long Sam has known about the ferrets she
>brought to the US were positive.  Wasn't most of these ferrets
>not spayed and neutered? Didn't lots of them get mated here and
>had babies and they were sold to lots of people all over the US.
 
I'll start from the first questions, how long have I known?  A few weeks
now since I had any inkling that it may have originated from here.  I have
known of a couple of individuals who tested ADV positive, but they were in
areas where it was possible (and more likely considering the information
I'd been given by officials) they could have contracted ADV over there.
 
A few weeks back, I was informed by two people who tested their ferrets
that all their other ferrets were negative except for the ones received
from me.  When I learned that, I waited a matter of days for the results
on another ferret, and then emailed the owners of my ferrets about getting
their own ferrets tested because of problems in some of my ferrets.  Many
people have tested, (some have tested prior, some since) of those, most
are negative and continuing to test negative.
 
>Did any of them get tested for Alutians and do the people that bought
>the baby's know they might have Alutians?
 
All the ferrets were flown over with a health certificate - that health
certificate, supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry here in
New Zealand (after the kits were inspected by the MAF vets), openly
stated that "there is no Aleutians Disease in New Zealand".  When I asked
them to check on some articles which had been brought to my attention
(Surveillance, written by MAF) I was told that there had been no positive
tests since, and they were considered to be false positives.
 
>Didn't Sam come here in the summer and bring ferrets lots of times?
>Thats really scary that there could be lots of Alutians here in the US
>and people who bought the ferrets might not even > know.
 
Are you accusing me of deliberately keeping people in the dark?  The
very day I got confirmation (and not even *solid* confirmation at that) I
emailed the owners of my ferrets.  Any ferrets that tested positive were
either neutered immediately, or had already been neutered.  Any people who
have bred any of my ferrets have tested those bred and the kits, thankfully
all of those have been negative.
 
>Did Sam tell each person she sold ferrets to that they might be sick?
>Or did she just post it to the FML thinking people will read it there.
 
I've already responded to this, however just in case... the owners were
contacted.  I consulted several owners about yesterdays post to ensure that
they were happy with my posting, since *they* would also likely receive
problems as a result of this news.  Luckily, they're mature enough to
understand that the news is better known 'up front'.
 
>I am scared for these poor ferrets who did nothing wrong and now might
>die.  Also I think Sam should be more worried about the Alutians that
>she caused here in the US and not so concerned with her wedding plans,
>like she thinks its not important.
 
Just my opinion, and you're free to have your own, of course... but this
will be the *only* wedding day I ever intend to have.  This situation
will take some time to resolve - taking a few weeks (which is all this is
taking) so that I can actually have a real wedding day and honeymoon, is
not (IMO) too much to ask.  Sorry to disappoint you if you feel this is
unacceptable, however I rate preparing my future as being more important
than waiting a short time to deal with this fully.
 
Thanks to those who have already expressed their support, I can only hope
that others can understand just what this is putting me and the owners of
the ferrets I've sent over in the past, through.
 
Sam
[Posted in FML issue 3330]