In a message dated 12/23/2002 1:20:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Please forgive my ignorance but I am interested in stats of berners affected > with vWD. I can give you the stats based on DNA testing by VetGen as of late last spring: 329 BMDs had been DNA tested Clear -282 Carrier -45 (Appx 14% or 1 in every 7 dogs) Affected -2 I don't believe that any of the BARC pups are included in the VetGen numbers. To the best of my knowledge, they were dx by blood assay and/or clinical presentation. Additional BMDs (from reputable lines) have been determined to be in the 'likely affected or carrier' range by the blood assay traditionally used but I don't have any figures. Hopefully at some point the owners and breeders of affected and carrier dogs will find the environment conducive to publicizing their information so we can all learn by their experience and be led by their example. Likewise, for SAS...I'm sure there are many breeders who don't give it a second thought because it's not in their realm of experience and it's not talked about in their circles. A DNA test would be nice, would make sense to work through the CHF and along with the newf folks (it's been a serious problem in their breed for many, many years) I'd think. But before you'll garner much enthusiasm for fund raising or research participation, etc...people have to truly *know* the problem exists in our breed. We have several hereditary diseases with a relatively low incidence...vWD, SAS, PRA, HCD, PSS, to name a few. These are at a level that's not horrific and breeders bear the brunt of many of the losses to these causes. They're little understood by many and don't get a whole lot of press...but I've never been a fan of the 'hear no evil, see no evil' school of thought. To me, a good first step in raising awareness of these diseases would be to build an online resource for basic information about each, including contacts for people who've been through them, and most importantly, a list of documented cases...submitted by owner or breeder, including sire & dam, date of dx and method of dx. Any takers for participating? ~Sherri Venditti
