From:
"Roger Vaughn"
Date: 2002-07-30 19:59:46 UTC
Subject: ADV Research at the U of GA
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <2405.192.168.132.34.1028070120.squirrel@webmail.seaconinc.com>
Dr. Purcell, good to hear from you! Thanks for the reply.
> I'd get a biopsy, I'm very suspicious of some sort of infiltrative
> intestinal disease - eosinophilic gastroenteritis or IBD come to
> mind.
We had a biopsy done last summer after a vomitting episode and
suspected blockage. No blockage, but the little guy's GI tract was
filled with excess gas and fluids. The surgeon took a stomach sample
rather than intestinal sample, unfortunately. I just don't want to put
him through that again, though we may have to.
The first pathologist called it EE, but when we had a ferret path
review the sample, it came back inconclusive. There were a few
eosinophils in the sample, but not enough to be significant. There was
no peripheral eosinophilia at the time. That's when we decided it may
be ECE.
I'm aware that this may have changed and we may now be dealing with
either EE or IBD.
<sigh> I don't want to have to cut, but that may be the only answer.
My vet feels that it is harder to diagnose from an endoscopic sample
since it is not full-thickness. Would you agree?
> BTW, do you have relatives in upstate NY? My sister married a
> Vaughn...
Heh, heh. I get that a lot. No, actually my family is in Wisconsin,
but I'm down here in sunny Florida.
Thanks!
Roger & the Fibonacci Ferts
To: advferret@yahoogroups.com, ferrethealth@smartgroups.com,
ferret-list@cunyvm.cuny.edu
From: DaneeDV@aol.com
Message-ID: <10c.15338482.2a784a32@aol.com>
A while back I wrote to Dr. Ritchie and asked him about immediate and long
term plans for the ADV Research at the U of GA. I let him know that I would
post his reply to several online ferret lists, so that as many people as
possible would see it.
Here is the reply that I received. As you can see, progress, while slow, is
being made. Also, as with so many things, money talks. The more money that
can be raised, the sooner we will have more options in dealing with the
problems of ADV.
He mentions sending both donations and blood and tissue samples to Kate, the
complete address for sending things is:
Kate Pennick
Vet Med Bldg.
Dept. of Small Animal Medicine
UGA College of Vet Med
Athens, GA 30602-7390
Danee
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit http://www.geocities.com/russiansmom
7-29-02
Dear Danee,
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond but I have been involved with an NIH
and Navy grant that required an enormous amount of time and I have several
graduate students that have been completing their dissertations and defense.
Our ultimate goal for any infectious disease would be development of an
effective vaccine and the same would be true for ADV. Our group does have the
capabilities to develop a vaccine for testing but such an endeavor would
require sufficient financial support to see the project to completion.
At this point, our funding has been limited to small but important
contributions, many of which are the direct result of your input.
Samples for diagnostic purposes do help us learn more about trends and
variation in the virus/host interaction. We plan to transfer the assays we
have been using at a research level to the Infectious Diseases Laboratory at
the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. This not for profit
laboratory provides diagnostic services on a cost recovery basis and this
would free up more time and resources for investigative rather than
diagnostic research.
Please send samples and donations care of Kate.
I understand your frustration with gathering the masses to improve the health
of companion ferrets but I am confident that you will achieve your goal.
It is wonderful to hear that fund raising efforts are slowly but surely
intensifying. Please feel free to contact me at any time. I usually have an
opportunity to respond to phone calls within days, mail within 3 to 4 weeks
Thank you for your interest in helping us help ferrets.
Sincerely, Branson W. Ritchie DVM, PhD, Diplomate ABVP and ECAMS
Distinguished Research Professor
Departments of Small Animal Medicine and Medical Microbiology