Crows doctor Brian Sando has spoken to the media about captain Mark Ricciuto’s virus …Here is a transcript of Dr Sando’s press conference on Friday morning …“We’ve learned that he’s got Parvo virus. It’s an infection that can occur in animals, but there’s a strain that can affect humans. It’s a more common condition in children where it’s known as Slap Cheek syndrome. Children experience it with minimal side affects; they may be a little bit sick, have a rash, and may not be terribly ill at all. Whereas, as often occurs with childhood complaints experienced by adults, adults often experience things somewhat more severely. That has certainly happened in this case, where Roo has quite extensive fevers, very severe aches and pains and a rash, which is the same identifying feature in some instances. He has also experienced liver inflammation, which is a complication (that is) very uncommon in the child’s side of things.”Is he quarantined from the group?“Well he’s no longer infectious. As soon as the rash comes out, effectively the infectious phase has passed. His rash has now cleared so he is well past the infectious stage, one would anticipate.”How much longer until he is okay?“I won’t be able to tell you. He won’t be able to train until his liver has recovered adequately, once or twice a week he will be having tests and that will be monitored by the specialist. The specialist physician will then give us an indication of when he can resume training and activity.”“It will be a weekly sort of thing (analysis) for probably a couple of weeks. It may be longer or it may be shorter. It is a ‘how long is a piece of string?’ sort of situation.”How did he get the virus?“It is spread in the same way as cold, (such as) when someone sneezes or coughing. Obviously players interact with children a lot, when they do coaching clinics and when young kids come up to them. Whether he picked it up from a child or where he got it from, no one will really know. As the incubation period can be anything from four to 20 days, we don’t really know when he could have picked it up.”Can it be passed on by adults?“Yes, certainly.”Why did it take so long to identify?“You’ve got to work through a whole lot of things, unfortunately not all things are simple. A range of tests were done and it takes a while for laboratories to work through. You don’t hurry things, you make sure they are done properly and that you’ve got a firm diagnosis and established exactly (what the problem is).”What is the process now to get better?“Just rest. Unfortunately there is no treatment in the form of tablets that are going to make any difference. I guess as a caution, I would like it to be known that we have had literally had hundreds of calls from well meaning people; of course a number are looking to genuinely help him (Ricciuto) and the club and there are others from a selling direction that have all the lotions and potions to get him right. I would like to reassure people that he has got the best specialists available to look after his condition. They know the best way to manage it, and we think it a lot safer to leave it to them.”Is he the first player to contract this?“He is the first one I’ve known to have it. Of course there may have been others who have had lesser illnesses that may have had Parvo and we’ve just put it down as a virus they have got over quickly.”How common is this among adults?“It is pretty uncommon, with over 50 percent (of people) having an imunity to it which was obtained in childhood. It is quite uncommon really, and much more common in children.”Best/worst case scenarios:“I’m not prepared to say because it is too hard to make a decent prognosis.”Can he be ruled out for next weekend?“Yes. It is very unlikely he will play then.”Is it possible that others in the group may have picked it up and not shown symptoms yet?“Certainly we can’t say they haven’t. But then again, most would have probably experienced it earlier in life without really knowing it and will be protected by their immunity. It is one of those conditions you only get once.”Do you know if Roo will play again this season?“I don’t know whether he will play again this season, but I will be hoping he does. You can’t rule him out, and you can’t rule him in.”