From:
Ferrethealer@aol.com
Date: 2002-09-29 00:37:51 UTC
Subject: ADV testing, ages, and maternal antibodies
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <8d.1efe5194.2ac7a55f@aol.com>
In a message dated 09/28/02 7:32:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
ferrethealth-digest-help@smartgroups.com writes:
> I've always read that ADV testing should be done after 12 weeks of age. You
> are saying that weaning time is of importance. Can you point me to the
> references for this? I do try to test but I'm becoming more of a skeptic
> about it since it seems that no matter how we test, or when we test, it's
> not correct or there are problems with the tests.
>
> Is the later testing for ADV perhaps because the ADV tests aren't able to
> factor out residual antibodies that might be in the blood?
Okay, folks - this may have been answered, but since I'm on digest, I don't
always get the posts in a timely manner.
This confused me as well, quite honestly, so I called and spoke to the people
at United. They said quite firmly that their test is not considered to be an
accurate *negative* until the ferret is at least four months of age and
preferably six months *if* the mother was positive or of unknown status. The
reason for this is that if the mother is positive, the kit will not recognize
the virus as foreign until the kit's immune system has developed fully (see
Dr. Williams wonderful discussion of immune systems earlier). Therefore the
kit will not produce antibodies against the virus until the immune system is
developed and that is considered to occur - in MINK - at six months of age.
There have been no studies done at this time on when ferret systems are fully
mature that I (or United) is aware of.
A kit from a known negative mother, of course, will not have that problem and
a negative test can be trusted in that event. So my twelve week old
privately bred boy can be tested with confidence, but my sixteen week old pet
store boy cannot.
A positive is a positive, regardless of age - as long as the kit is over
twelve weeks old so that any of the maternal antibodies are gone! - but can
be a false positive, of course. It has nothing to do with weaning time - it
has to do with the amount of antibody passed in the colostrum in that crucial
24 hour period after birth. The more antibody passed, the longer it takes to
go away, but we have confidence that it's gone at twelve weeks.
Now this holds true for United's test - I don't know about Avecon's.
Dr. Ruth
*****************************************
Save lives - spay or neuter your pet.
== 1596 ==
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