BEGIN QUOTE
Vet Dermatol. 2008 Jun 11. [Epub ahead of print]
An unusual presentation of canine distemper virus infection in a
domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo).
Zehnder AM, Hawkins MG, Koski MA, Luff JA, Benak J, Lowenstine LJ,
White SD.
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine,
University of California, Davis, California 95614, USA.
A 4.5-year-old, male castrated ferret was examined with a 27-day
history of severe pruritus, generalized erythema and scaling. Skin
scrapings and a trichogram were negative for mites and dermatophyte
organisms. A fungal culture of hair samples was negative. The ferret
was treated presumptively for scabies and secondary bacterial and yeast
infection with selamectin, enrofloxacin, fluconazole, diphenhydramine
and a miconazole-chlorhexidine shampoo. The ferret showed mild
improvement in clinical signs over the subsequent 3 weeks, but was
inappetent and required supportive feeding and subcutaneous fluids by
the owner. The ferret was then examined on an emergency basis at the
end of 3 weeks (53 days following initial signs of illness) for severe
blood loss from a haematoma over the interscapular region, hypotension
and shock. The owners elected euthanasia due to a poor prognosis and
deteriorating condition. On post-mortem examination intraepithelial
canine distemper viral inclusions were identified systemically, and
abundant canine distemper virus antigen was identified with
immunohistochemical staining. It is important to note the prolonged
course of disease along with the absence of respiratory and
neurological signs because this differs from the classic presentation
of canine distemper virus infection in ferrets. Canine distemper virus
should remain a clinical suspicion for ferrets with skin lesions that
do not respond to appropriate therapy, even in animals that were
previously vaccinated.
PMID: 18547381
END QUOTE
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 6003]
|
