>If it is aleutian disease, are my regular ferrets at risk? Could they >already have contracted it? Yes to both. The incubation period is up to a year, so they may not show any symptoms. >Is there any known treatment? Any experimental treatment? No to both. Nor is there any likelyhood of anyone developing a vaccine due to the nature of the disease. >How contagious is this disease? It's airborne, so it could spread rather easily. The risk zone is estimated to be around 5 km. For mink it's very contagious (at least for some which is the reason for its name), possibly and not unlikely also for ferrets. (There may be different but similar strains of virus for mink and ferrets, not that I think it matters if it's ferrets who've got it.) The virus is also very long lived outside of the body: On one mink farm which was disinfected and left without any animals for two years the mink still got it when they were put there. >Do I need to quarrantine my shelter completely? Until you know it's probably a good idea to be careful. But you shouldn't panic until you know. This could be something else entirely. -- Urban Fredriksson [log in to unmask] http://www.alfaskop.net/%7Egriffon/ferrets/ [Posted in FML issue 2070]