Permission to cross post the following information to other lists is granted, as long as the post is taken in it entirety, with out any changes or additions. I am sure there are some people who think once a vaccine is developed, that is the end of the story. In reality, it is just the beginning of a new chapter. UGA and other universities are not in the business of manufacturing and selling vaccines. So, when one is developed, they will have to find a drug company that is interested in buying the rights to it, or it will never be produced and sold. Since drug companies are in the business of making a profit, the only way they will be interested is if they feel there is enough demand for the product to be profitable. Once again, it comes back to public interest. If there can be one vaccine that will fight against all the ADV strains, there will be a larger potential customer base. Mink farmers already vaccinate their mink against a number of diseases, including distemper and mink viral enteritis. If it meant not having to worry about ADV, the mink farmers would likely welcome a vaccine for that as well. Since skunk fanciers view their skunks the same way we view our ferrets, I am certain a vaccine would appeal to them also. Anyone who loves their furry friends wants to protect them from diseases. But, vaccines can't always be created that will fight all strains of a virus. Take, for example, the influenza virus. It is a virus that mutates quickly, and each year, the vaccine makers have to determine which strains are most likely to pose a threat, and make the vaccine to fight those strains. While the vaccine may pose some immunity for other strains of the flu virus, the immunity might not be complete. This is what might end up being true with ADV, too. We have a similar situation with rabies. Again, there is more then one strain. All mammals can get rabies, but there are certain strains that certain mammals are more likely to get. As a result, there are different rabies vaccines approved for different animals. It is also important to remember that different species react to various vaccines in different ways. So, it is hard to say whether or not an ADV vaccine would be effective against all of the different strains, and be safe to use on all of the animals that are susceptible to ADV. Fortunately, though, ADV is a parvo virus, and does not mutate quickly. So, at least there would not be the problem of having to constantly change the vaccine to fight new strains. At some point after the vaccine is developed, there will also have to be trials run, to prove the vaccine is effective. These trials consist in part of vaccinating one group of ferrets (or what ever animal the vaccine is intended for), but not a second. All of the ferrets are then be exposed to ADV, and it is noted how many ferrets in each group get the virus. If the vaccine is effective, very few or none of the vaccinated ferrets would become ADV+. I say very few, because no vaccine is ever 100% effective. The trials might be done at UGA, or at the drug company that buys the rights to the vaccine. They will have to be done, though, before the vaccine can get USDA approval. Some of you who have had ferrets for many years may remember back when there was no approved rabies vaccine for ferrets. It was thought that Imrab would work, but trials had to be run to prove it was effective on ferrets. And, running the trials is not an inexpensive venture. The drug company was not interested in incurring the expense, when they already had a market for Imrab with cats and dogs. It took several years of heavy duty fundraising before we had enough money to have an independent lab run the trials. In that case, Marshall Farms was very helpful in getting the trials done, so it is possible they would help with this as well. Also, consider Galaxy-D. There is anecdotal evidence that Galaxy-D is likely an effective vaccine for ferrets against canine distemper. But, the vaccine does not have USDA approval for use in ferrets primarily because the drug company has never run the trials on ferrets and does not want to spend the money to run the trials and get it approved. In the past, they have not felt that getting it approved for use on ferrets would be cost effective. Only after the vaccine has USDA approval will anyone be able to sell the vaccine for use on our pets. So, as you can see, just developing the vaccine is not the end of the story. There are still many steps after that before the vaccine would be available for our use. And, even if it is developed, it is unlikely any drug companies will be interested in it unless they feel there is a profit to be made from it. That is why we need to get as many ferret owners as possible to support ADV research. By support, I do not mean just financially. Even if you can not afford to make monetary donations, you can show your support in other ways. One of the best ways to show support is by spreading the word, and helping to educate those who do not understand ADV. -- 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 You can help fight ADV! Visit: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/ [Posted in FML issue 4911]