Greetings fellow ferretiers, I am new to the FML but thankfully not to
ferrets :) I just read a very interesting article from the Morris Animal
Foundation newsletter "Animal News," which is a newsletter dealing with
current animal research and what is happening on the cutting edge.  I was
never aware of this but it seems as though it is common practice for many
state agencies and vets to automatically euthanize a ferret when it bites a
human (and the human complains) because unlike dogs and cats, the "shedding"
period for rabies in domestic ferrets is not known (FYI - "shedding period"
is the time that it takes for the disease to show up in the animals saliva.
Typically in a dog or cat there is a 10 day waiting period/confinement
period).
 
It seems that researchers at Kansas State University, with help from the
CDC, are beginning to report their findings, and unfortunately the
preliminary reports do not look all that good.  The article states that
: "the major finding in this study is that the rabies virus was not
isolated from the saliva of any infected ferret and was only detected in
the salivary gland of a single animal."  Hopefully they will find a
method for detecting rabies in ferrets without euthanasia.  The article
states that 19 cases of ferret rabies has been reported in the U.S.
since 1958, but who knows how many have been euthanized on the chance
that they might have been infected.
 
Are there not any other methods for detecting rabies, in ferrets and other
mammals, than with this "shedding" technique?  If anyone would like a copy
of the article just e-mail me and I would be glad to send you a copy.
 
Neil and the dynamic duo - Waldo and Poco
[Posted in FML issue 1542]