"Ferrets are a high risk for rabies " - Public Health Bulletin In my opinion this is one of the most overblown myths about ferrets, and to make matters worse, usually spread by well educated people who should know better. Yes, ferrets can get rabies. Out of the many millions of ferrets that have lived and are alive since 1958, there have been fewer than 25 diagnosed with rabies. At least two of these were given rabies through innoculations with a modified live virus rabies vaccine (not the killed virus vaccines used today). At least one of the "positives" was believed a lab error (not all that uncommon according to the National Institute of Health.) In order for a ferret to contract rabies, it must be bitten by an animal that is actively secreting the rabies virus in it's saliva. Tests (J. Bell) on ferrets have shown that, unlike the skunk, they do not get rabies from eating the carcas of a rabid animal. In order for the ferret to infect another animal (including human) they must bite and be secreting the rabies virus in their saliva at the time of a bite. (Yes, there is one suspected case of transmission of rabies by a scratch - unproven and certainly not by a ferret.) When you look at the statistics, you'll find that there has never been a documented case of a ferret transmitting rabies to another animal or to a human. Why? Because it seems that, unlike many other carnivors, the ferret will die of the disease before the virus appears in their saliva. Rabies is spread through a bite by a rabid animal that has the virus in its saliva. From the site of the bite, the virus migrates to the nerves, where it eventually reproduces; travels to the brain; and then the salivary glands. In many small animals (rabbits, chipmunks, etc., the animal dies from the infection before it reaches the salivary glands. If you are bitten by a rabbit, unless the rabbit is exhibiting very pecular symptoms, most Public Health officials will not even recommend testing the animal unless you insist on it, because they know through empirical evidence that rabbits do not spread rabies. (I know of no shedding studies ever done on a rabbit.) Tests done on ferrets so far show that ferrets also die before they shed the virus. The first tests were done in Germany (Forrester using a vole strain) and France (Blancou using a fox strain). Both concluded that "the ferret is a dead end for rabies" -they die before the virus appeares in the saliva, and therefore can not pass on the infection. The results of these studies were discounted in the US, because they were not North American strains of the virus. US Public Health officials stated that they could not feel confident that the ferret would not react differently to local strains. They were especially concerned about the skunk strain because "the closest relative to the ferret in North America is the skunk, and skunks are a high rabies risk" (ignoring the fact that the closest living North American relative to the ferret is actually the weasel which is NOT considered a high rabies risk.) So, in 1995, KSUVM and CDC colaborated to do the first US shedding study on ferrets using the skunk strain of the rabies virus. The preliminary results, published in October of last year, mirrored the results of the European studies - the ferrets died before they passed the virus into their saliva. Public Health is still insisting that at least five more strains will have to be tested before they can consider a quarantine period. These will include a bat strain and a raccoon strain. These tests will take many years to complete, mostly because of a lack of funding. In the meantime, ignoring the evidence to the contrary, Public Health officials are maintaining their stance that "ferrets are a high rabies risk", although there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support that position. As a result, ferret owners in several states have taken matters into their own hands and gotten laws passed favoring quarantine for vaccinated ferrets. NH passed their law in 1995. MD in 1996 (although it does not go into effect until October, and they are still working out the details). TX hopes to get their law on the books this year and have made great strides educating their Public Health people. NC Public Health looked at the evidence and decided that quarantine was recommended in low risk situations (vaccination and/or history of confinement). KS recently change their Rules and Recommendations to provide quarantine to ferrets with a history of confinement. All were the result of ferret owners getting involved. I know of several other ferret groups and individual working toward the same goals. My opinion, if you want the killing stopped, donate to the shedding studies (Morris Foundation and KSUVM); AND start working in YOUR state to get a quarantine law passed for ferrets. Dick B. [Posted in FML issue 1671]