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]