Hello,
I just wanted to thank everyone for their support & yes, their questions as well as suggestions.
First off, thank you Michele, for your contribution this month, it was very generous & I appreciate it! Thanks!
Let me address them for you.
While I do realize as I did state on my site, that this is not a perfect system nor is it on a large scale by any means, it IS a start. I mean, if people do not begin to try & change & increase awareness in order to start some standardization then it will never get done. The only way to gather data is to MAKE data. The only way to make data is to begin testing. My goal is simple, I want to help dragons, that is all.
To correct a couple of remarks. I do know that Gina has tested 2 times last year & is beginning her testing now for this year which will be her 3rd testing round. Anthony tested his breeders last year, all except for 2 & they were negative, but, he has decided to retest them all over again for this year. The new breeder Angie, this is her first testing round. We all know of Denise's results & I am very anxious to begin working with her as well.
As of right now, just the breeders are being tested, we will start with that. I think that is fair, considering just getting people to test is going to be a feat in itself. I am sure if I did request the babies be tested, then they would most likely comply, especially if any problems do arise.
As far as expanding to start offering the PCR, yes, I am planning on doing so. One thing at a time, that is all I can do. It is going to be hard enough as it is to get people to do the test at $24 so to ask them to pay $150 or more is pretty much impossible at this point. So, I decided to start with the fecal EM which in my opinion, is very accurate. Yes, it does pick up on other non specific adeno virus' that are non specific to dragons, but it still does not have too many errors. While the PCR is good, it still can have errors too, because it is almost too sensitive in some cases, picking up on everything & sometimes not differentiating between them. Please do not pick me apart on all of this as I have never claimed to be an "expert" in how these tests are reading. I am learning, still. I do know that Lou Ann is very professional & I worked hard on getting the legal form written & approved through the legal department. So, once this gets started & I can evaluate how it is going, then, I will look into contacting Dr. Stacy at the University of Florida regarding joining us in this effort.
As far as contributions & or donations, I have a very limited site. I am making sure that my data is correct in as far as where any donations could be sent to for Adeno virus research to the University of Illinois before I put that information on my site. I could run that by Dr. Stacy as well.
Jean, yes, it most definitely will be very valuable data to be gathering with regards to how consistent everything continues to test. This is needed however, in order to help in the fight against it & hopefully finding a cure or some type of vaccination against it possibly. This is just the beginning I hope. I will do my best in helping everyone out.
As you see, I do plan to cover all of the bases, or intend to try my best to do so. I appreciate the input.
Tracie