Regarding the following texts found regarding Aleutians in New Zealand
(the first being the one referenced from by the Fox book and others)
Vol 11, No. 2 - Fitch Special Issue
Vol 11, No 1 - Summer 1984
Read, D. H.: Survey of Fitch for ADV and trace elements
Vol 10, No. 2 Cox, B.T.: Suspected ADV in Fitch
Vol 10, No 1 Horner, G. W.: Plasmacytosis (AKA ADV) in a Farmed Fitch
I've now had a look at the first article, and spoken to the MAF vet about
all of them, who also took a look. At the time of printing, "fitch
farming" (farming ferrets for their fur) was a booming business in New
Zealand, and therefore, the health of these fur animals was evidently being
monitored by MAF. The MAF vet I spoke with commented that he believed the
first article was written by one of the editors of this publication, as
no-one was put down as the author (Each report or article is usually
attributed to the author, or one of the authors. None were indicated in
the one referenced by others)
Several times, it's noted that studies would be required to know anything,
there was no confirmation since all signs were inconsistent, some things
indicating possible Aleutians, others which indicated it wasn't Aleutians.
Tests were done on five animals, and all were found either positive or
suspicious. None of these tested animals showed any symptoms and although
there were some ferrets who were losing weight, there was no known
relationship to those tested. There were inconsistent signs of
hypergammaglobulinaemia, which is characteristic in Aleutians. These
things, the vet believes, offer a sign that the positive results may have
been triggered by something else, unrelated, but enough to make the
Aleutians tests positive (such as the comments in a past FML about a
suspicion that distemper/parvo shots may cause false positives).
There were *no* proven cases of Aleutians, and all the reports state is
that it was suspected, but more information was necessary to prove that it
was, indeed, Aleutians.
According to the MAF vet, the issue I have was a summary of the previous
issues information, so there should be nothing different between those and
the newer one. However, he will be rounding them up ASAP and looking over
them. His comment was that Surveillance "is not a refereed publication"
and explained to me that the information is likely to be good, but not
fully checked.
After reading through the oft-referred to article (Volume 11 # 2), the MAF
vet here said that the statement in the health certificate stands - there
is and never has been any cases of Aleutians in New Zealand.
I honestly hope this ends the discussion. all I am interested in is
finding a way to HELP with finding a cure and/or vaccine. Hopefully
someone more closely involved will tell us all what we can do shortly,
rather than having everyone argue over supposed origins of this virus.
Sam
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful
committed people can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
If everyone got together ferrets would be treated fairly.
http://www.ferretfans.net
[Posted in FML issue 2949]
|
