Hi Everyone! I just got the word -- The Nasphv Compendium for 1998 is now recommending that ferrets be treated the same as dogs & cats!!! This came straight from Vanessa Baird, the rabies coordinator for the City of Virginia Beach. The other exciting news is that because of this recommendation, that Virginia Beach, Virginia has already adopted a quarantine policy for ferrets !!!!!!!! I am doing the wardance and I am at work!! My co-workers probably think I am crazy!! Here it is straight from Suzanne Jenkins: "This is to let you know that the Compendium of Animal Rabies Control Committee decided yesterday to recommend managing ferrets that are exposed to rabies or that bite humans in the same way that dogs and cats are managed. This decision was based on a report from Chuck Rupprecht on the results of the final rabies viral shedding study using a variety of bat rabies virus strains to infect ferrets. The details of the studies will be shared later and the 1998 Compendium will include ferrets in the same places that dogs and cats are mentioned. I just wanted to be sure that public health officials were the first to receive this information which I am sure will be spread widely and rapidly by the ferret enthusiasts." YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Ferreting! Lisa Leidig Director The Ferret Haven "by-the-Sea" [Posted in FML issue 2115]