There is a lot of info on this in the FML Archives (since it was kept updated) and the FHL Archives. Please, notice that although the symptoms are like FIP, this coronavirus is FIP-LIKE but is NOT FIP, nor an FIP mutant. It has been shown by genetic study at Michigan State to be a mutant of ECE. Here is the abstract on that: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18424841 Note especially: >Partial sequencing of the coronavirus spike gene obtained from >frozen tissue indicates that the virus is related to ferret >enteric coronavirus. so it is officially being called "FIP-like ECE" and variations thereupon in conversations with the investigating pathologists. They also now sometimes call the two forms the "systemic form of ECE" and the "enteric form of ECE" to denote which is meant. (Just had a phone call with one of the primary researchers on a couple of topics yesterday...) Here are links for you, your group, and your newsletter, with these going backwards in time so less is known the further back one goes (with later ones more on cause and earlier ones more on symptoms): http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL7295 (investigating such illnesses is very expensive) http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL7114 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL6566 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL5251 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL5244 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL4890 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL4648 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL4447 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL4284 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL3328 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL3320 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL3249 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2157 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL2150 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL1841 http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG662 and there are more, but these should cover most or all that you want and you can search if you have further questions. You may just copy any of the ones I wrote if they are unaltered or may do short quotes and paraphrase with URLs given. It is legal to carry abstracts and press releases. Please, honor the copyrights of others and ask their permission to copy theirs, or paraphrase and give the URLs, using only short quotes of their work. (It is a copyright violation to carry someone else's full work without permission and without giving correct source, including internet posts.) A thought: has anyone tried Tamiflu for that particular variant? (It was tried with apparent success on something else new which now does not look to be a coronavirus.) It is not known how long this version sheds, but so far ferrets do not survive it, so it is safest to assume shedding for the remainder of the life-span. Regular ECE virus can shed for perhaps about 8 months (possibly at least 6 months) after symptoms have ended, hence the long term cautions for other ferrets. ECE: http://www.afip.org/consultation/vetpath/ferrets/ECE/ECE.html 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 6210]
