Dear Depressed Mom, Let me start by saying how deeply sorry I am to read about your situation. I know what you must be feeling and going through. I have been living it now for 5 years. There is so much I could tell you, and so much I want to say. But, as there is a limit on length here, I will try to say just what I consider most important. Please feel free to write to me privately, though, if you want, and to consider joining the ADVList on Yahoo Groups. The information for the group is: Subscribe: [log in to unmask] Unsubscribe: [log in to unmask] List owner: [log in to unmask] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/advferret/ The ADVList is a group of people who are interested in learning more about ADV, and in helping to educate others. We also discuss ways of raising funds for research, and, as some of us have ADV positive ferrets, we also provide a support group for each other. It is not a real busy group most of the time, but it does have many useful resources for people concerned about ADV. Next, I would tell you that you will most likely find your self going through a grieving process for your ferrets. You will likely go through all the stages, including denial, guilt, anger, and the rest. It will get better over time, but you will never totally be free of it. And then, unfortunately, one day your ferret will leave you for the Bridge, and you will go through it all over again. Do not try to deny the feelings. Accept them, and work through them. They are real. Finally, I will try to answer your questions as best I can. Understand, there is so much that isn't known about ADV, so many questions where there is no definitive answer. To be very blunt, in many cases the answers are just theories, and not proven facts. Your first question about length of time the virus can survive - ADV is a parvo virus which is an extremely hardy class of viruses, and can live for long periods outside a host. It is not know how long it can survive, but it has been shown to still be viable (able to infect) after 2 years. Cleaning a house after ADV is also very difficult. Houses have many porous surfaces in them, which can not be thoroughly disinfected. However, this does not mean you can never have ferrets again. Consider this - the world we live in is full of germs. Every day you are exposed to all kinds of contagious diseases. However, the normal immune system is able to fight off these germs, unless a large number of a particular type are present at once. And, while we don't know how many particles of ADV virus are needed to infect a healthy ferret, it is most likely more then a few. At the Symposium in Las Vegas, Dr. Stevenson ( a real ADV expert) was a speaker. One evening a group of us accompanied her to dinner, and a lot of the conversation revolved around how to clean up after ADV and how long to wait. WHile there is no proof of what the answer is, she felt that waiting 3 to 6 months after thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting would be sufficient. Her suggestions for cleaning were: 1) Throw out all bedding and toys 2) If your cages are made completely of non-porous material and are in good condition, clean them thoroughly with a strong parvocide. Make sure any solid fecal matter is completely removed, as treating that with parvocide is not sufficient. If they are in poor condition, are made in part of wood or other porous materials, or if hardened fecal matter can not be completely removed, then destroy them. 3) Clean all walls and tile floors with parvocide. 4) Clean all carpets and upholstered furniture with a steam cleaner. The steam cleaner will not kill the virus, but the steam and soap will loosen dirt particles (and thus virus particles) and the suction will then draw them out and into the cleaner's receptacle. Adding a parvocide to the cleaner solution will also be helpful. However, parvocides are only completely effective on non porous surfaces. If any carpeting or furniture is old and you can afford to replace it with new, that is even better. 5) Any painted surfaces you can repaint, do so. Paint will seal in particles that may have been on the surface. 6) Hardwood floors can be covered with polyurethane. Again, this will act as a seal. There is no guarantee that all this will work, but Dr. Stevenson felt that it probably would. Here is something else to keep in mind. Unlike many contagious diseases, an ADV+ ferret is not always in a shedding (contagious) state. Many ferrets with ADV never become contagious. The problem is, there is no way of knowing when a ferret with ADV is contagious, and so for safety's sake, they have to be treated as if they always are. In order for an ADV+ ferret to be contagious, the virus must be in his fluids (saliva, urine, blood, feces, etc.) and that fluid has to be left on something - like if he pees on the floor. Much of the time, the virus is in the organ tissues, and is not free in the fluids. Your second question involved the pet photographer. Is she someone who photographs a lot of ferrets? If so, I would certainly warn her of the situation, and offer to pay to replace the props. There is no way you can insure she will do it, but if she regularly works with ferrets, she probably cares about them, and will understand the need to take precautions. Even if she does not do a lot of ferrets, I would still contact her and let her know. But, in that case, I would not be surprised if she just blows it off. Regardless, you should tell her, though, and try to impress on her the dangers of this disease. Your third question concerned the possibility of you carrying the virus on your person, and infecting other ferrets. Theoretically, this could happen, but it is fairly easy to take precautions so it doesn't. I have people who own ferrets come to my home, and when they do, I recommend that they take off their shoes outside, and not bring their shoes into my house. Beyond that, I advise that when they get home, they strip off their clothing and take it straight to the laundry room (providing their ferrets can't get in to the laundry room, and make sure the clothing gets laundered before their ferrets can be exposed to it. I also advise them to shower before handling their own ferrets. I sometimes go to the ferret shows to visit, and I also visit the homes of people who own ferrets. When I go out, I make sure that I shower and dress just before going, and I do not handle any of my kids. I keep several pairs of shoes that I do not wear in my house, either, and store them where my ferrets can not get to them. I do generally hesitate to handle other people's ferrets, though, even though I may want to. Despite the fact I take many precautions, it is always in the back of my mind that there is always that small possibility of contamination. Also, keep in mind that several shelters have managed to house some positive ferrets, out of necessity, and still maintain a negative population. If a shelter can do that, it should be possible to clean things up so you can go in public without fear. One thing I would advise is that you be very careful when taking one of your ferrets to the vet. Even though it is in my ferrets' records that they are ADV+, my vet may not always read that, and may not remember. So, I always remind him when he is examining one of my positive kids, so he can also take extra precautions. I also sit away from other clients and their pets, and never let any one handle my kids. Your last question concerned how prevalent ADV is. I really wish we knew. People have tried to come up with some idea, but unfortunately, many people do not want to say that they have a ferret that is ADV+, and many more people have never tested and just don't now. Just as you chose to post anonymously, many people are afraid of saying anything about their status publicly. And, that is a sad thing. It would be very good if we had some idea of just how prevalent the disease is. Before I close, there is one thing I have to ask. You indicated you used the Avecon Quicktest. Did you run the test with blood or with saliva? The instructions indicate that blood can be used, but when it is, there seems to be a high incidence of false positives. So, if you ran the test with blood, I would strongly suggest retesting. Actually, I would strongly suggest retesting, regardless. I do not consider a ferret a true positive until there have been at least 2 tests with positive results, as there is always a possibility of a mistake. However, to be safe, continue to take precautions as though you were sure you had ferrets with ADV. Finally, while it is true that there is no cure for ADV, there are ways to slow the progress of the disease, and treatments that can alleviate symptoms. O I would be happy to discuss some of those things either directly with you, or in another post (but not tonight). Take care, and know that you are not alone. There are people out here who know what you are going through, and who will lend you support and help you in any way that we can. Take care. -- Danee International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator http://ferretcongress.org ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know! For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com [Posted in FML issue 4490]