Mary McCarty <[log in to unmask]> wrote on 1/7/2006, >I have contacted the Univ of GA about doing commercial ADV testing and >Marshall Farms about doing ADV testing/perhaps buying Fervac and starting >a pharmaceutical branch. Out of the commercial breeders, they seem to be >the most likely to be able to do this. Haven't heard anything back, yet. I doubt that UGA will be interested in offering CEP testing commercially, but I could be wrong. I did talk to Dr. Ritchie, who heads the UGA ADV research team, in early December. At that time he said they were planning to have their ADV ELISA test commercially available after the beginning of the year (2006). Since hearing the news about United, I have been trying to reach both Dr. Ritchie and Kate in reference to this, but I have not heard back from them. The ELISA test that UGA developed, while using the same technology as the Avecon ELISA, is a different test. ELISA stands for "enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay". ELISA tests are widely utilized to detect substances that have antigenic properties, primarily proteins (as opposed to small molecules and ions such as glucose and potassium). The substances detected by ELISA tests include hormones, bacterial antigens and antibodies. So, an ELISA test can be developed to look for a number of different things, and not just ADV. The UGA ELISA is, I believe, the test that PETsMART is using to screen the ferrets they sell for ADV. I do not know if their ELISA is an antigen (the actual virus) or an antibody test, but I do know that they plan to express the test results in titers (actual numbers). Titers can be useful, because they give you an idea of the concentration of something, rather than just giving a positive or negative result. UGA has another ADV test already commercially available, but because it is run on organ biopsy samples, it is not a good test for regular ADV screening. This test, called the DNA in situ hybridization test. It is a very accurate test, but is more for use with necropsy samples, or biopsy samples taken while the ferret is undergoing surgery for something else. It is not reasonable to have a ferret undergo surgery to remove organ biopsy samples for normal screening. -- Danee DeVore International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator http://www.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 5116]