Hello Gang,
 
The Pathology report is back on one of my 3 ferrets (that all died a few
weeks back).  I don't pretend to understand any of it, and my vet has
been unavailable to sit down with me and explain the findings in detail.
From our brief phone conversation he thinks it was ECE, but his ferret
knowledge is limited (by his own admission) .  I still don't understand
why the kit succumbed to the virus and died.  I thought the little guys
were supposed to come through it with flying colors.  I am attaching the
pathology report in hopes of getting the opinions of those professionals
and others here on the list as to what the 4 diagnoses given mean.  What
is hepatic lipidosis?  There is so much Greek in this report I feel very
stupid trying to make heads or tails of it.  Since ECE seems to be the
case here, how long is it safe to wait before bringing any new ferrets
home?  I've heard so many different things as to how long the virus
remains active that I'm not sure what to believe.  The vet said the bleach
would kill everything I cleaned with it, but what about the carpet and
furniture that they loved to crawl all over?  Can't very well use bleach
on that stuff.  Will the virus lurk in those fabrics, and if so how long?
Will having the carpets and furniture cleaned kill it?  I know I keep
asking that question but I am so paranoid now!  I feel the only thing I
can do is educate myself about all aspects of living with ferrets so that
when I do decide to get more they will have the benefit of that knowledge.
 
Thanks for your time,
 
Cindy & The Wyoming Ferrets
 
PATHOLOGY REPORT ATTACHED:
 
HISTORY:
This 5-year-old, female, captive bred ferret had an eight day history of
mucoid enteritis that included melena over the last three days of the
disease course.  The ferret died.  Necropsy showed severe inflammation of
the duodenum and pancreas.
 
CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS:  Open.
 
GROSS:
Received in formalin are seven tissues to 3 cm.  in greatest dimension
that are processed in one block.
 
MICROSCOPIC:
Liver: Diffusely, hepatocytes have marked fatty change.  Centrilobular
veins are congested.  Pancreas: The interstitium and the pancreatic
parenchyma are suffused with extravasated blood.  Kidney: Low numbers of
tubules are necrotic.  Blood vessels are congested, and extensive foci of
hemorrhage are noted in the parenchyma.  Intestine: One section contains
luminal digested blood or bile.  A separate section of intestine has
superficial mucosal necrosis with crypt and villous regeneration and
mild infiltrates of lymphocytes and plasma cells.  Small foci of fibrin
deposition and hemorrhage are also noted in the mucosa.  Spleen: Small
foci of hemorrhage are noted in the red pulp, and some of the macrophages
contain hemosiderin.  The following tissues are histologically within
normal limits: stomach (autolyzed), adipose.
 
DIAGNOSIS:
1. Severe hepatic lipidosis.
2. Acute segmental necrotizing enteritis, intestine.
3. Acute hemorrhage, pancreas, kidney, spleen.
4. Mild renal tubular necrosis.
 
COMMENT:
Hepatic lipidosis in this case was severe and likely associated with
significant hepatic insufficiency.  The extensive hemorrhage in a number
of tissues may be due to coagulopathy associated with this process.  This
ferret also had segmental acute necrotizing enteritis.  This lesion may
have been due to stress-related erosion, bacterial overgrowth, or viral
infection.  The tissue is otherwise too autolyzed to further characterize.
The melena detected in a separate section of intestine is likely due
to the previously described intestinal lesion.  The gastric mucosa was
completely autolyzed, but there did not appear to be a significant
inflammatory cell infiltrate in the stomach.  The cause for the mucoid
diarrhea described clinically could not be determined, but the clinical
presentation is similar to that of enteric coronavirus infection of
ferrets.  This ferret did not appear to have the chronic form of
inflammatory bowel disease that is commonly seen in ferrets.  With the
exception of autolysis and melena in the lumen of the intestine, this
section of intestine was judged to be histologically within normal limits.
[Posted in FML issue 3704]