Message Number: FHL13415 | New FHL Archives Search
From: Sukie Crandall
Date: 2011-06-16 15:00:24 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Re: Distemper vaccine??
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com

Attached is also some rabies vaccine information.

I have heard of at least one shelter which got Canine Distemper in it and then vaccinated after the fact. Now in that situation many of the ferrets will already be infected but not showing symptoms yet so the vaccine will not be able to work, but vaccines are tried in that sort of situation just in case some ferrets had not yet contracted CDV. Another thing that is done these days when CDV shows up in a home of a shelter among ferrets is to use high levels of Vitamin A thanks to some research which has been mentioned on the FHL before so the separate FHL Archives should be check for that:

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL11353

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL13255

The first will take people to

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/8/1916.full.pdf+html

I know that at least one shelter and friends of that shelter then assumed that the Purevax used AFTER CDV appeared in the shelter was no good, but the problem was NOT the Purevax, it was the timing. At that point ANY canine distemper vaccine was not going to work in the already infected ferrets. That is just basic to how vaccines work and people NEED to know that about vaccines and about CDV.

Some places use vaccines based on cost even without proof that they work for a sufficient time in ferrets, and some have to try alternatives due to the specific individuals having allergies to certain vaccines.

Only ONE rabies vaccine is recognized as working for ferrets, and use of others will not allow ferrets to have protection under the law if an incident happens:

http://www.nasphv.org/

Here is the brand new 2011 Rabies Compendium published just days ago:

http://www.nasphv.org/Documents/RabiesCompendium.pdf

Much of this is worth reading. Highlight for ferret people include but are not limited to pages
6-10
Page 11 may interest some of you.
Then go to Section III which begins on page 12:
Notice there that the ONLY recognized rabies vaccine for ferrets is IMRAB3 (and it's variant IMRAB3TF)!

Use of other rabies vaccines will leave the ferret and you without legal protection and could get the vets giving those vaccines to ferrets in trouble, so if you know one who has done so give the person a copy of the 2011 compendium, PLEASE!

BTW, there was a recent study which indicates that the reason rabies can last so much longer in bats than in many other similarly sized animals is hibernation. If a bat is "down" the rate of rabies infection was 15% the last time I checked while if the bat can fly the rate is 5%. Most down bats have insecticide poisoning, but those numbers are still high enough to urge caution. Remember that among any animals there are aggressive individuals but there are also the "dumb" presentation ones who can be more gentle than usual.



On Jun 16, 2011, at 5:45 AM, Tressie wrote:

> I am curious as to why people would consider using a distemper vaccine other than the only government-approved CDV vaccine for ferrets, that is, Merial's PUREVAX ® Ferret Distemper??
>
> Tressie
>

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)










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