From:
Soren Tabnitz
Date: 2011-08-08 02:11:08 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] Quarantining New Ferrets
To: "ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com" <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
Katie,
I can't imagine anyone who's ever seen a shelter laid low by infectious disease having problems with your guidelines.
Dogs--parvo/distemper cats--upper respiratory issues.... I've known *several* ferret shelters to suffer distemper outbreaks--which caused untold misery and euthanasia which all could have been prevented by using simple quarantine protocols.
Distemper can be airborne, but changing clothing and footwear and *washing* hands after handling/feeding/cleaning the quarantined pets can save a lot of headaches and "if onlys" later. That silly cliche "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" exists because it's true!
I think the only time you can forgo such protocols is if you have already had the animals at the shelter for a while and the foster people have had their own pets for a long time. However, this would not protect against ECE, Â where a ferret can be a "carrier" for months after. It would only protect from respiratory infections, distemper, rabies. Personally, when I have fostered or pet-sat other ferrets in my home I have kept them separate out of consideration for my own ferrets' health.
--skyla
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