EXCITING NEWS! BAT STUDY RESULTS REPORTED On Oct. 20, 1997 a representative of the American Ferret Association (AFA) attended the Oct. 20, 1997 meeting of the United States Animal Health Association Committee for Rabies in Louisville Kentucky. At the one-day session of particular interest to ferret owners, we heard a number of presentations on the latest in rabies research, primary among which was the 1/2 hour presentation by Mike Niesgoda, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on "Pathogenesis of Bat Rabies Virus Variants in the Domestic Ferret". Our representative has just returned from KY, and we are working on a complete analysis of the presentation abstract, plus some interesting information gleaned from some of the researchers at this meeting, plus a complete summary of the ferret rabies studies to date, putting this latest study into perspective. The next edition of the American Ferret Report, which will be available by Nov. 14, will include complete details of the bat study. Tbe good news for ferret owners is that there is no news...study results as reported are consistent with prior studies. Now that we've got bats under our belts, what's next? (Just a Diane joke, ignore, all you serious people.) A digest of the study results will be presented at the Big Apple Ferret Expo in New York Oct. 25 at the presentation on Legislative and Legal Issues for Ferret Owners, 1 pm, in the Show Hall. A complete analysis and report will be provided in the upcoming issue of the AFR, deadline yesterday. Stay tuned. For information on the upcoming issue of the AFR, call 1-888-FERRET1. For information on the New York Ferret Expo, call 1-800 Ferret 2 or 212-388-8652.-- submitted by: Diane Rogers, AFA Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee ----------------------------------------------- John and Diane Rogers - Baltimore Ferret Club http://baltoferret.com/bfc000.htm mailto:[log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------------ [Posted in FML issue 2101]