>Secondly, our little fert PJ is in the hospital right now fighting the
>infection she has..  We all suspect ECE as the culprit, however the vets
>cannot find a lab that can test for this in blood samples that they have
>pulled.  If anyone out there can gove me a few references of which labs
>should be contacted that can offer this test, PJ would be very thankful.
>
>She is being treated currently for proliferative bowel disease until they
>can determine something from the blood tests.  They have her on a cathader
>iv to fight the dehydration, and they are currently force feeding her to
>get some protien in her system.  They did say that she was doing better
>than yesterday, but she isn't eating or drinking on her own yet...
>Thanks in advance!
>Mark, Kory, Hobbes and PJ
 
There is not a generally available blood test for ECE; there is a (fecal?)
test but it is not generally available though it is made available now and
then when samples are sought for further research.
 
I think that fecal samples for this may again be being sought.  Check the
recent past posts on the topic from Bruce Williams by using the search
feature at
 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list
 
For the single most up-to-date, complete, and informative write-up that
exists on ECE go to
 
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
 
for Bruce William's write-up; since he is the one who first found the
coronavirus that causes ECE (which has since been confirmed at two other
locations), and is involved with continuing research on the disease he's
the one whose info can best help you.
 
The work being done may well produce a generally available test and a
vaccine over time, but these are not easy problems to tackle.
[Posted in FML issue 3506]