For those who may not be active on Facebook, there is a severe outbreak
of canine distemper in the United Kingdom that has thus far affected 3
shelters. One has lost over 40 ferrets, another 4 and the third one as
of this weekend.

The saddest part is the England does not have an approved CD vaccine
routinely used and only a few vets willing to use a dog approved CD
vaccine. So they are being hit doubly hard!

There is an active group on Facebook trying to raise funds to help 2 of
the shelters (the 3rd for unknown reasons has sadly declined help). We
have forwarded as much information from our recent outbreak. We have
also alerted and asked Dr. Murray to send them information.

Two things are critical:

If you are in the UK or know of any ferret owners in the UK, please
alert them immediately in case they have not received the information
about the outbreak. As the 3 shelters are from what I understand over
150 miles apart, this is not a confined situation. We need to remember
that in the UK, ferrets are pets as well as "working" farm animals who
are used for hunting. As outdoor animals they could be more likely to
be exposed. From what was posted it seems a number of dogs in the
Sherwood area. The ferret reports are coming from the areas of
Yorkshire, Colchester, Wolverhampton and others.

[Posted in FML 7225]