From:
daneedv@aol.com
Date: 2002-07-16 23:33:44 UTC
Subject: RE: wild mink and ADV (NE US)?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <29439255.1026862424309.JavaMail.root@scandium>
Author wrote:
> Perhaps more is known since the above article, perhaps there is not as much
> diversity in the ferret strains as in mink (what the article was about)
> strains, or perhaps it's just that parvo viruses are very easily mutated
> so in light of the rest it's different while still mutating easily.
> Could you clarify for me?
All I can do is tell you what she said. She said that ADV is very unlike some of the parvo viruses we are most familiar with, like canine parvo. Not only does ADV have a very different effect on the body, but it is stucturally very different. ADV is round, and has a hard outer shell (I know - sounds a lot like M&Ms). As a result, the virus does not mutate readily, which is good news if we are trying to create a vaccine.
So far, only one ferret strain of ADV (ADV-F) has been identified. However, only a few markers are currently being looked at. It is possible as the tests become more refined, and they are able to compare more markers in the hypervariable region of the DNA string they will discover that there are actually more then one strain. I think they are currently looking at only 6 or 8 markers, which is actually pretty crude. But, it has been enough to define 5 separate mink strains.
Danee