Note: the CNN report had an important footnote:
 
>Stohr and Koplan both questioned the results of the study. Stohr said
>the healthy animals were infected so quickly that he wondered whether
>the cultured virus was simply rubbed onto them from close contact with
>their recently inoculated cage mates.
 
Good of them to note.  It's just "one" study, that has not yet been
duplicated that I know of, and that may have some holes for all we know.
The above concern was one possibility that the report mentioned.  I'm a
bit puzzled ... as to why they tested cats and ferrets.  I mean that
would be, what ... two of the three most popular household pets ... and
both from differing ancestors, which is good.  But they do not give
reason, nor say that dogs or other animals have been tested in the same
way.  And I am disappointed that they (cats and ferrets) have been said
to be "distantly related" in this report.  It gives a wrong impression
to the lay person that they are alike.
 
Speaking of wrong impressions, I just hate the fragmented scrolling on
television news media channels that is so popular now.  Not much care is
taken as to how this "bold print" sort of messaging is worded sometimes.
And things can be so misworded and emphasized that the statements
themselves can be incorrect.  If one glances at a fragmented topic and is
a lay person, well the wrong message can come across.  It can look as if
cats and ferrets are weak to SARS in comparison to all other pets.  It
can appear as if they are dangerous carriers and others are not.  It can
even come across as them being originators of the disease in the most
uneducated mind.
 
* I thought it was a good idea that we were all alerted to this new
report, so we can be on guard to "reeducate" those that get the wrong
message from it.  Certainly we've had enough scares and misinformation
concerning disease and pets with Monkey Pox as it is, yes?  We don't
need further scares concerning SARS.
 
Sukie has pointed out a few sources from the past year that incorrectly
said "ferrets" were the animals in China who carried SARS, when it was
civet cats and "ferret badgers" that had been noted as possible sources
of infection (note pooooooossible).  That is not good.  Another new media
mistake involving pets was during the Monkey Pox scare.  I remember
finding a news site, that incorrectly had a picture of a lizard and
snake as carriers of Monkey Pox during the first months when info about
that disease was coming out.  How ludicrous, when at the point in time,
rodents (and primates) were the only animals found to be connected to
Monkey Pox in any way shape or form.  If you recall all this ambiguity,
seemed to cause a scare even in pet stores in the midwest towards
ferrets.  So it's important that we stay on top of such new snippets to
prevent such hyseteria.
 
Anyway, thank you Sukie for finding the mistakes involving the printing
of "ferrets" when it should have been "ferret badgers" in regards to
SARS, and thank you for taking action by writing contacts to those
sources and asking them to correct this.
 
Also thank you for bringing this to the FML, et al, in a concise and easy
to understand manner.  I'm not very good at being to the point.
 
YOU SHHH!
 
Wolfy
[Posted in FML issue 4316]