REMEMBER THAT THIS IS RARE. THE VAST MAJORITY OF EXPOSURES WILL RESULT IN RABIES INFECTIONS. http://www.promedmail.org/ and use the menu on your left to open 03 Apr 2012 Rabies, human, presumed abortive, 2009 - USA: (TX) unresolved, RFI They always include references. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061427/ full article, and here is abstract: Here we document the case of a domestic ferret (Mustela putorius) that survived experimental inoculation with rabies virus of skunk origin. The ferret showed initial clinical signs of rabies (hindlimb paralysis) on day 81 after inoculation. The animal survived with paraplegia but otherwise was in an adequate nutritional state until the end of the observation period (PI day 181). At necropsy, no gross lesions were observed. Microscopic lesions were found in sections of cerebrum and spinal cord. In both tissues, the lesions were similar but were more severe with loss of neuronal parenchyma in the spinal cord. The lesions consisted of locally extensive areas with proliferation of astrocytes and moderate numbers of glial cells. Severely affected areas also contained clearly defined vacuoles in the neuropil. Multifocal areas of involvement showed mononuclear cuffing of blood vessels. In a few areas, the cuffing extended to the meninges. Rabies virus antigen was not detected by immunohistochemistry of tissue sections. Abbreviations: DFA, direct fluorescent antibody; RFFIT, rapid fluorescent focus-inhibition test REMEMBER THAT THIS IS RARE. THE VAST MAJORITY OF EXPOSURES WILL RESULT IN RABIES INFECTIONS. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 7385]