This project is dedicated to White Russian's Mommy, Judy Gronwold,
who battles ADV every day of her life on all fronts.
Thank you for fighting for the ferrets Judy ...
thank you for fighting for all of us. You are truly a hero to me....
I must give a heartfelt thank you to Kat Parsons
for actually opening my eyes to the ever pressing dangers of ADV.
I don't think I'll ever forget the phone call from this gal
whom opened up the conversation with,
"So Wolfy, what are we going to do about this ADV thing?!"
She was invariably the voice I finally could no longer ignore.
-
I am not an expert in animal pathology in any way. This is just
a summary introduction to ADV or Aleutians disease. This is my
perspective as the "average ferret owner" or "ever day Joe" on
ADV. I am very busy, and I like many people in this world am
spread very thin in my life. I admit to many things such as
skimming over any information on ADV because,
a) I thought it complicated, and had trouble finding straight
talk about ADV, and
b) I thought it so rare it wouldn't affect me or anyone that I
know.
Should we panic over this disease? No, we should not panic for
many reasons. Panic breeds misinformation, ignorance, and most
of all hurt. An objective and active approach would lead to
public awareness and education therefore perhaps prevention in
the spread of this disease. We need to be concerned and
proactive so we won't have a reason to panic in the future. If
you panic over something you may also treat those who are
affected and need support like Lepers of the past. And that act
would be a hideous one.
History:
AD began in the fifties in minks. Spontaneous cases began to be
recorded around 1967 here in the U.S in ferrets. It is thought
that many mink farms also bred ferrets. It is probable that the
disease mutated into a form that was able to be transferred to
ferrets over time. It has spread unfortunately to Canada in the
seventies. It appeared in New Zealand in the eighties. It has
been reported in the U.K. this past decade. I personally never
heard of ADV in ferrets until the late nineties. Many people
have still never heard of it. It is important that we are aware
of it, and take action to fight it so it is NOT the next AIDS.
Pathology:
ADV is a form of parvovirus. When a virus enters an animals
system, the body reacts with making antibodies to bind to it so
as to stop the disease from progressing. AD causes the animal to
produce massive amounts of antibodies and such. These then get
deposited in the internal organs, in incredible amounts. It is
actually that process that produces symptoms in the animal.
ADV in ferrets shows up in various ways, symptoms ranging from
no symptoms to severe. A common symptom is hind-end weakness or
in more serious cases paralysis. But then that is the symptom
for many disorders in ferrets. The main target organs that are
affected are the kidneys, liver, and lungs.
Ok here is the kicker with this disease... when an animal gets a
virus, most times the antibodies neutralize the virus. Why
ferrets (and minks, et al) create such massive amounts of
destructive immune defenses is because the antibodies made do
not do this at all to the virus. They are ineffective. So the
body keeps putting out more and more, and also the disease runs
rampant. Obviously this greatly depresses the immune system.
Frustrating isn't it?
Transmission:
ADV can be transmitted from mother to kit. It can be transmitted
through bodily fluids of any sort (feces included). On one hand
the thinking now is it takes a bit much to transmit it. But for
safety, it is said that you should take many precautions.
Parvocide can be used on floors and such since this virus is can
live for a period of time surfaces. Washing clothes and taking
showers and such things when in contact within an ADV infected
home is a good idea. I personally am scared a bit of ADV and how
it is spread. But I refuse to let irrational fear cloud that
fact that there is no reason I should not be around and support
those affected.
Tests and Treatments:
Now there is an established and reliable test called the CEP
from the United Vaccines lab that can detect whether your ferret
has been exposed to ADV. A different kind of test is the ELISA
Test from Avecon Diagnostics, Inc.. It is a very sensitive and
specific test that only detects antibody to the non-viron
protein of ADV. But does the CEP tell you if your ferret has ADV
for instance? No not necessarily. But in any case it is believed
that even an exposed ferret can transfer the disease. The tricky
part here is a ferret can be in the first stages of the disease
and be contagious for quite some time without anyone knowing it.
There are some ferrets that may never come down with the full
spectrum disease. A ferret can be exposed to ADV and have the
antibodies for it, but never develop symptoms (but can still be
contagious).
Here's the brutal truth.
There are no treatments and no vaccines pure and simple.
That is why we have to be smart, and careful as far as
preventing the spread of this disease. Education and public
awareness is key in doing this. We must act now to help research
so that a vaccine of sorts, or some sort of treatment can be
created. To do that funds are needed, as well as research
subjects (blood samples from ADV ferrets, etc).
Goals and what YOU can do:
What are ways we can help ADV in this country?
- We can start by reading this site and thinking about ADV and
learning about it.
- We can read up on it and educate ourselves.
- We can step it up by putting a page or link up on our websites.
- We can support those that are directly affected by ADV.
- We can go on to make sure our local vets are aware of ADV...
many are NOT.
- We can go on to take at least one of our ferrets (one that has
been in the home the longest) for testing.
- We can donate money to those affected, and to research.
- and/or we can gather testing information for those that are
researching ADV.
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