How Likely is Your Ferret to Contract Rabies?

How likely is it that your ferret will contract rabies? How is the rabies virus transferred to another animal or human? What rabies vaccinations exist for ferrets? How often should a ferret have a rabies vaccination? What should you do if your ferret bites someone? How is a ferret tested to see if it has rabies? If your ferret has been bitten by an unknown animal or has bitten someone, how long must it be quarantined? How many ferrets have been found to be infected with rabies? These are all questions that are important to ferret owners or to anyone who has been bitten by a ferret.

Fortunately, there has never been a case where a human or animal has been infected with rabies by a domesticated ferret. In fact, since 1958, there have been only 14 ferrets with confirmed rabies through the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) and most of those are believed to have occurred because the ferret was vaccinated with a live vaccine not approved for ferrets. The only approved vaccine for ferrets is Imrab3, which is a killed virus that cannot cause rabies.

Compare this to the number of dogs (1,996 between 1980 and 1992) and cats (2,537 between 1980 and 1992). Bats, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, foxes, cats, and dogs represent 95% of all rabies cases in the United States. Cats have a higher incidence of rabies even over dogs because most are not vaccinated; they often are outside and can contact potentially rabid animals. Rodents, squirrels, chipmunks, and other small animals seldom get rabies. Fish, reptiles, and birds are not known to carry the rabies virus.

Studies have shown that ferrets may have an inborn resistance to rabies. They do not "carry" the disease and the rabies virus can only be transferred by a bite that breaks or punctures the skin and only if the ferret has been exposed to rabies. The saliva of an infected animal would have to have the rabies virus present and injected into the open wound. Studies have shown that ferrets are more likely to die from the attack itself and not from rabies long before any symptoms would develop.

On the Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association website, they state, "During the period from 1989 to 1994, there were 10,733 cases of rabies reported in skunks in the United States, and there were 21,447 cases of rabies reported in raccoons. During this same period, there were no reported cases of rabies in weasels, mink, and ermines (emphasis mine). These statistics suggest the possibility that there is a natural resistance to the disease in the weasel family." This is a very important statistic and reinforces the studies that have shown that ferrets may be immune to contracting rabies in most cases. In 1999, statistics involving raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes, cats, cattle, dogs, and other animals had a total of 7,067 rabies cases. During 2006, 49 states and Puerto Rico reported 6,940 cases of rabies in animals to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), representing an 8.2% increase from the 6,417 cases in animals reported in 2005.

This does not mean a ferret cannot get rabies. Ferrets are susceptible to getting the virus just as any other mammal; however, since most ferrets, do not "run free" as do many dogs and cats, there is a less likely chance they would be exposed to a rabid animal. If ferrets are housed outdoors, there is a chance they could be bitten by a bat or a wild animal that would try to bite them through any cage openings. However, most ferret owners do not house ferrets in anything with openings larger than one inch (or they would have already have escaped ferrets) and it would be difficult for most animals other than a bat to have physical contact with a ferret where a bite could occur. Any ferret that has been bitten or has bitten anyone should be quarantined for 10 days. Depending on local regulations, ferrets can be tested for rabies; however, this means they will be subject to euthanasia; i.e., killed and their brain removed in order to be tested.

If a ferret should escape, it will probably not survive more than a few days as they have no survival skills whatsoever from their ancestors. The facts are that ferrets are not wild animals, but are fully domesticated and they depend on their human owners to provide all necessary, basic needs to survive. There have not been any wild or feral ferrets for at least 2500 years. The Black-footed ferret, native to North America, cannot be classified with the European ferret and are only a distant cousin at best. All ferrets in the United States are bred from European-based ferrets.

It is a good idea to check on what your localities regulations are concerning rabies (and distemper, which is 100% fatal) vaccinations are for ferrets. Ferrets are classified the same as cats and dogs and all rabies-control policies for ferrets should mirror those recommended for dogs and cats. Even so, ferrets are the only one of the three that is required to be vaccinated every year.

Sources:

Ferrets and Rabies

Rabies in Ferrets

About Ferrets

HSUS Statement on Ferrets as Pets