The Facts:

• ADV is a strain of parvovirus that can infect ferrets.
• It is unknown how the disease is transmitted, though it is generally accepted that it is transmitted through all bodily fluids.
• There are a handful of tests (using blood or saliva, and testing for either antibodies or viral DNA). A good summary of available tests can be found here. Testing runs about $10 if done at home, and more if done through a licensed veterinarian.  The blood test has been shown through anecdotal and other evidence to be much more reliable than the saliva test.
• All tests can produce false positives or false negatives.
• Ferrets that test positive for ADV can subsequently test negative on future tests (and vice versa).
• A ferret testing positive for ADV may or may not have ADV.  The test to detect ADV in ferrets is generic to all strains of parvovirus.  A ferret exposed to a dog that might be shedding parvovirus (due to recent vaccination or infection) might test positive for ADV.
• A ferret that tests positive for ADV has antibodies to the ADV virus (or a strain of parvovirus)in its bloodstream (or saliva if testing with Avecon). The U. of Georgia tests actually test for the viral DNA, rather than the antibodies.
• A ferret that tests positive for ADV may or may not be shedding the ADV virus.
• Ferrets with ADV may or may not be contagious.  It is generally accepted that ferrets must be actively shedding the virus to be contagious, thus...
• ADV-negative ferrets exposed to ferrets with ADV run a risk of contracting ADV.
• Generally, healthy adult ferrets will not contract ADV from another ferret.  Some immune system compromise is usually involved (stress, cancer, etc.)
• A ferret that tests positive for ADV may or may not actually show ADV symptoms; a ferret that has ADV may or may not actually show ADV symptoms.
• A ferret that actually contracts ADV and shows symptoms may or may not actually die from ADV.
• The prevalence and incidence of ADV varies from East to West coast (with the highest incidence being on the East coast).
• The incidence and overall mortality rates for adrenal disease, insulinoma, cardiomyopathy, lymphoma, are much higher than that of ADV, however ADV is a contagious condition, while the aforementioned diseases/conditions are not.

The Questions You Should Ask:

• What does having an ADV positive result mean?
• What will I do with my ferret if the results come back positive and this is my only ferret?
• What will I do with my ferret if the results come back positive and this is not my only ferret?
• Do your ferret(s) come into contact with other ferrets?
• What is the harm to my ferret(s) if I do test?
• What are the benefits to my ferret(s) if I do test?
• Can I have a good conscience about how I am caring for my pets if I do/don't test?

Some Exaggerated Statements about ADV:

• ADV is a "death sentence" in ferrets.
• If you don't test your ferrets, you are playing Russian roulette with their lives.
• People/shelters/vets that don't test ferrets for ADV are putting everyone at risk.

Informational Sites:

• Aleutian Disease-Avoiding the Panic
• Aleutian Disease in Ferrets (article by Dr. Williams and Dr. Rosenthal)
• FerretADV.com
• NWFS-Aleutian Disease in Ferrets
• Aleutian Disease on the Rise Again

A personal statement:

I do not test my ferrets for ADV.  I personally feel that the risk to my ferrets is not high enough to warrant testing.  I accept the knowledge that I may one day have a ferret that dies from ADV.  I doubt seriously that this will change my viewpoint very much.   There are 2 main reasons why I have chosen not to test:

1) Based on anecdotal evidence from shelters, newsgroups, and vet offices that I have communication with, I do not perceive that the incidence of ADV in the Pacific Northwest is very high.  I personally know no one with an ADV positive ferret, though I do know that there is a shelter in our area that homes ADV-positive ferrets that has about 20 ferrets at the time I created this page (May 2005). 

2) Knowing that my ferret(s) is/are ADV-positive would provide me no useful information.  I'm not about to separate and split up my group of 9 ferrets (separation can cause depression that can kill), based on a test that doesn't necessarily tell me that my ferret will contract the disease, nor does it tell me if they will die from it.  One solution to having a ferret that is ADV positive is to put that ferret to sleep.  Frightening, given the aforementioned.

I also volunteer for a ferret shelter that does not test for ADV. (There are 3 in Washington state that do not).  With over 90 ferrets at the present time, testing all ferrets for ADV would cost over $900.  Now, certainly, if the shelter and/or our vet felt that the test was necessary, we would find a way to pay for the testing.  At the expert advice of our veterinarian, and at the decision of our Board of Directors, our shelter has chosen not to test.  What really bothers me is that our shelter receives a great deal of bad press as a result of our decision.  It is always puzzling to me, given that if you have a personal conviction about the merits of ADV testing, you are more than welcome to conduct your own ADV test on a ferret if you were to adopt him/her from our shelter, and we will always take back a ferret that doesn't work out for the adopter.  Regardless, the ferrets in our shelter still deserve homes.  

I hope this page provided some clarification for you about ADV in ferrets.  My heart goes out to those of you with ferrets who have died from ADV, and I hope that this page provides information for the ADV testing proponents as well as critics.

Leanna Aker