From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2003-10-29 22:50:22 UTC
Subject: RE: SARS and ferrets
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <4473625.1067467822772.JavaMail.root@indium.smartgroups.com>
Author wrote:
> Did anyone see the article on CNN's website http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/ concerning SARS and ferrets? Is there anything I can supplement them with to build up their immunity?
> Connie, Butch, MAggie - playing at the bridge, CB, and Chloe
Well, first off, remember that to catch an illness the illness needs to be present. If it isn't present it can't be caught. SARS is a very rare illness, hence the chances of exposure are unlikley. If it comes to your neighborhood at some point in the future restrict who your ferret can interact with, wash your hands a lot, and otherwise take the same precautions which are so important in relation to other human illnesses which it is known that they can get such as influenza or sinus infections (often mistaken for colds which they don't get).
Remember that there are questions of whether this study shows that they can transmit the SARS virus. It shows that if you go out of your way to infect them they can become infected, but NOT whether they actually can catch the virus under casual conditions, or if they can transmit it.
Nor are dogs necessarily off the hook on which ferrets and cats find themselves; it sounds like they just haven't been tested, yet.