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 complaints reach your advertisers ***** I have written to all of the following: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], and [log in to unmask] 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]