I was watching my Yahoo news ticker today, when I saw a note about a
possible new way to test for rabies.  What is done is some cells are taken
from the surface of the cornea, which are then tested for signs of rabies.
The test subject, a 13 year old girl, showed signs of rabies in the corneal
test, even though other rabies tests showed negative.  As the more classic
rabies symptoms appeared, more rabies cells appeared on successive tests of
the cornea.  I'm hoping that this test can eventually be applied to all
animals, including ferrrets; so that the slaughter of ferrets can be
stopped.
 
Here is the URL for the story, although it may no longer be valid by the
time you read this:
 
http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/980223/health/stories/rabies2_1.html
 
This article came from Reuters Health Information Services.
 
Craig
[Posted in FML issue 2227]