Message Number: SG948 | New FHL Archives Search
From: williamsb@comcast.net
Date: 2002-08-21 20:17:48 UTC
Subject: RE: post-vaccine encephalitis?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <12843191.1029961068152.JavaMail.root@scandium>

Author wrote:
> ...until he went to the vet for his vaccines in Dec. of that year.
> Following that visit it was observed that Oscar could not walk normally. He had hind end weakness and a tendency to fall to the right. He was x-rayed, examined and thoroughly evaluated by several vets at that time. ...> Since that time I have had him examined by 4 ferret experts myself. They all concur that he is perfectly healthy. In fact, Oscar does not know that he is *different.* He has learned to stand to eat and he has developed some muscle strength. I do OT and PT type exercises, as well as some hydrotherapy with him.
> The general opinion is that, for some unknown reason, Oscar may have developed a mild case of distemper when he received his first vaccine. My current vet stated that he looked and acted like a *distemper survivor.* The tag Oscar gets is *post-vaccine encephalitis?*

Dear Renee:

Post-vaccine encephalitis, while possible, is a very difficult disease to prove without biopsy or autopsy material. while the time frame between vaccination and the onset of these signs might be suspicious, there has not been any definitive testing (spinal tap) or autopsy material to support this claim. the signs of hindlimb weakness and falling to the right are very non-specific, and do not even say encephalitis. There should be definite symptoms that indicate disease in the brain (circling, nystagmus, cranial nerve deficits, seizures) rather than those affecting the hind legs.

Post-vaccinal encephalitis generally occurs in batches, and with distemper, you should have fairly severe signs. I cn't really say what a "distemper survivor" looks like, as I have never seen a ferret that survived it. Dogs may, and often go on to live with many years with mild continuing signs (such as "chewing gum fits"), but you can't really extrapolate from that.

while I know that ferrets have a number of problems associated with vaccines, and I have seen true cases of vaccine induced distemper in ferrets (which kills the ferrets just as dead as the real thing), I am not sure that there is enough evidence to put your little guy in this category.

with kindest regard,

bruce williams, DVM