From:  http://www.drklein.net/bites.htm
>Ferrets can be dangerous pets, particularly when small children are
>present in the household. Ferrets are known to engage in unprovoked
>attacks on infants. These attacks are typically directed at the child's
>face, and may involve up to two-hundred separate bites. Once begun,
>the vicious attacks usually cannot be stopped. Ferrets can contract and
>transmit rabies, and no ferret vaccine is available against the disease.
>Ferrets should not be kept as pets, especially by households with small
>children.
 
Since it is in ALL of your interests to have ACCURATE FACTS *****before
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Please, feel free to check these out with specialists such as Dr. Freddie
Hoffman, the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, the
CDC's Rabies Division headed by Dr. Charles Rupprecht, the USDA, etc.
 
A. there HAS been a USDA approved rabies vaccine since 1990 and I doubt
that I need to tell you that the criteria they have is stringent; it is
IMRAB 3.
 
B. There are NO recorded instances of a ferret EVER passing on rabies
ANYWHERE in the world.  Yes, they can get rabies, but they are so sensitive
to it's effects that there is serious doubt that they can survive long
enough for the rabies to make the trip down the nerves to the salivary
glands and be transmitted.  In one French study the researchers actually
went so far as to use the equivalent of the term "dead-end".  A German
study had similar results.  As you SHOULD be aware but apparently are not
there were also extensive studies on comparative possible shedding aspects
of multiple rabies strains given to ferrets done by the CDC in recent
years, with similar results.
 
C. As a result of those studies in the November 1997 meeting of the
Association of State Public Health Veterinarians ferrets were included to
be treated the SAME way as dogs and cats when a biting incidence happens.
These are THE national experts on the effects of zoonotics on humans and
you should have contacted them.  Read the Compendium of Animal Rabies
Control, printed each year in the first edition of JAVMA, or available
from your state's Health Dept.
 
D. It has long been known that it actually is rather hard to give rabies
to ferrets; unlike dogs they don't get it casually such as by eating
contaminated meats.  They are like cats in that aspect.  Either the French
or the German researchers go into some detail about this problem and how
they finally got past it; off-hand I can not recall which, but when you
request the U.S.  studies which you should find under Briggs, Rupprecht,
et al or some configuration thereupon, you should also ask the CDC to send
you it's translations of the French and German studies of rabies shedding
in ferrets.
 
E. Unlike cats and dogs most U.S. ferrets are indoors animals, reducing
the risk of exposure.
 
F. We do not have children and can not respond in personal fashion about
ferrets and children, except to say that we have had our's cuddle friends'
children, and two helped to comfort a toddler and preschooler on and off
for over a year while their mother was passing away from a rare form of
cancer with nothing worse than kisses ever coming form the ferrets and the
animals forgiving the lack of understanding when the toddler held one by
his neck.
 
You will want to trace down the pediatrician Freddie Hoffman's paper on
bite rates.  Can't recall if it was in JAVMA or in another veterinary or
perhaps medical journal, but she worked the rates for serious bites of
several animals adjusted for representation in the country.  Per capita
pet the ferrets were much safer than cats or dogs by a wide margin.
 
Can an incident happen?  Of course.  Are they so common that they aren't
even treated like news so are ignored by the media (which happens with
serious injuries by dogs and cats)?  Of course not.  They are still rare
enough that the media jump on them.
 
Ferrets are fun loving and rambunctious like kids, though, and perhaps for
that reason alone parents need to realize that accidents from either side
may be more likely to happen with children who are not well suited to pets.
(Also true for any other pets.)
 
What are the circumstance that existed in reported ferret bites?  They
pretty much are the SAME ones existing for serious dog and cat injuries:
abuse, neglect, loss of control by the person or pet, disease, etc.  If you
look into the cases of serious injury by ferrets you will find that in a
common theme is that the parents were out at a bar while the rest were home
alone, or were passed out from drugs or alcohol.  It's very sad reading; I
know because I did it in the past.  One other source of information you
might want to contact would be a major animal rescue group to ask about
what things lead to bites in general; they typically are ultimately the
fault of the PEOPLE involved rather than the animal -- something your
article should reflect well in the general section.
[Posted in FML issue 2974]