What ferrets get presents similarly to FIP so looks like it, but
genetic work has shown that the coronavirus involved is far more
closely related to ECE, a known ferret coronavirus.

For those who want to learn more here are some great ways to start:

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL11042

This post below is very helpful because it shows the distinction
between a general coronavirus staining test which is pretty readily
available (BUT which can NOT tell ferret coronavirus from FIP from
SARS from..., but instead only says that the disease is some type of
coronavirus) and the type of testing that can be done at MSU which
actually distinguishes among the types of coronavirii:

http://ferrethealth.org/archive/FHL9546

Personally, I HATE the term "FIP-like" because it makes some people
think the disease is FIP, and because it is too easy to have a typo and
leave out the "-like" portion which some people have afterward kicked
themselves about doing, including vets . The strength of the term is
that it reminds people what it looks like in symptoms and appearance,
like dry FIP even though the cause is not FIP.

Not being able to tell the types apart has lead to some people
assuming that dry FIP was present in ferrets just because the systemic
coronavirus they get acts like that even though it is not that, and
that sort of confusion actually messed up some early SARS research
because some human health researchers did not know about the existence
of ECE in ferrets and FIP in cats and wound up using the general tests
but then could not figure out WHY they were not seeing the SARS type of
lung damage (what they saw were the types of damage consistent with ECE
in the ferrets and with FIP in some cats). Well, duh! Even though cats
can get SARS pretty easily from food items, and there have been some
cases in dogs that way, too, as well as directly infected ferrets,
cats, and dogs used in SARS research, a few early researchers turned
out to most likely be looking at ferrets with ECE and cats with FIP in
some of the studies because they did not do specific enough coronavirus
type testing.

in
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/

see these and links to abstracts
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Publications.php

and among the MANY studies done there to help ferrets (and which can
ALWAYS use donations to continue) there are these:

BEGIN QUOTED ABSTRACTS
Vet Pathol. 2008 Mar;45(2):236-46.
Clinicopathologic features of a systemic coronavirus-associated disease
resembling feline infectious peritonitis in the domestic ferret
(Mustela putorius).
Garner MM, Ramsell K, Morera N, Juan-Sallés C, Jiménez J, Ardiaca M,
Montesinos A, Teifke JP, Löhr CV, Evermann JF, Baszler TV, Nordhausen
RW, Wise AG,Maes RK, Kiupel M.
Source
Northwest ZooPath, 654 W. Main, Monroe, WA 98296, USA.
Erratum in Vet Pathol. 2008 Jul;45(4):598.
Abstract
From 2002 to 2007, 23 ferrets from Europe and the United States were
diagnosed with systemic pyogranulomatous inflammation resembling feline
infectious peritonitis (FIP). The average age at the time of diagnosis
was 11 months. The disease was progressive in all cases, and average
duration of clinical illness was 67 days. Common clinical findings were
anorexia, weight loss, diarrhea, and large, palpable intra-abdominal
masses; less frequent findings included hind limb paresis, central
nervous system signs, vomiting, and dyspnea. Frequent hematologic
findings were mild anemia, thrombocytopenia, and
hypergammaglobulinemia. Grossly, whitish nodules were found in numerous
tissues, most frequently the mesenteric adipose tissue and lymph nodes,
visceral peritoneum, liver, kidneys, spleen, and lungs. One ferret had
a serous abdominal effusion. Microscopically, pyogranulomatous
inflammation involved especially the visceral peritoneum, mesenteric
adipose tissue, liver, lungs, kidneys, lymph nodes, spleen, pancreas,
adrenal glands, and/or blood vessels. Immunohistochemically, all
cases were positive for coronavirus antigen using monoclonal antibody
FIPV3-70. Electron microscopic examination of inflammatory lesions
identified particles with coronavirus morphology in the cytoplasm of
macrophages. Partial sequencing of the coronavirus spike gene obtained
from frozen tissue indicates that the virus is related to ferret
enteric coronavirus.

PMID: 18424841 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Virus Res. 2010 Apr;149(1):42-50. Epub 2010 Jan 15.
Comparative sequence analysis of the distal one-third of the genomes of
a systemic and an enteric ferret coronavirus.
Wise AG, Kiupel M, Garner MM, Clark AK, Maes RK.
Source
Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, 4125 Beaumont Road,
Lansing, MI 48909, USA.
Abstract
Ferret systemic coronavirus (FRSCV) infection is associated with an
emerging, highly fatal disease of ferrets. Enhanced macrophage tropism
and the resulting induction of pyogranulomatous lesions are shared with
feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) infection in cats, but are
not features of ferret enteric coronavirus (FRECV) infection.
Comparative sequence analysis of the distal one-third of the genomes
of one FRSCV and one FRECV strain showed that these two ferret
coronaviruses share >96% nucleotide sequence identities in the membrane
(M), nucleocapsid (N) and non-structural protein genes (partial
polymerase, open reading frames [ORFs] 3 and 7b). The envelope (E)
protein gene showed a moderate nucleotide sequence similarity of 91.6%.
In contrast, nucleotide and amino acid sequence similarities observed
with the spike (S) protein were only 79.5 and 79.6%, respectively.
Twenty-one amino acid differences within a 195-199-amino acid
C-terminal portion of the S protein were conserved between 3 strains
each of FRSCV and FRECV. Both systemic and enteric strains were found
to carry a single ORF 3 gene with truncated proteins observed in two
out of three FRSCV strains examined. The two enteric strains analyzed
each contained an intact ORF 3 gene. Phylogenetically, FRSCV is more
closely related to FRECV than to other group 1 coronaviruses.

Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PMID: 20079778 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Ferret coronavirus-associated diseases.
Murray J, Kiupel M, Maes RK.Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract. 2010
Sep;13(3):543-60. Review.
A novel coronavirus of ferrets was first described in 1993. This
coronavirus caused an enteric disease called epizootic catarrhal
enteritis (ECE). Recently, a ferret systemic coronavirus
(FRSCV)-associated disease was discovered. This new systemic disease
resembles the dry form of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) and has
been reported in the United States and Europe. This article addresses
the clinical signs, pathology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment,
and prevention of this ferret FIP-like disease.

END QUOTED ABSTRACTS

also see these:

<http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/Enteric_and_Systemic_Coronavirus_Infections_in_Ferrets.pdf>

<http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/Ferret_Coronaviruses.pdf>

<http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/Development_of_Molecular_Diagnostic_Tests_for_ECE.pdf>

from

http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Presentations/

AND also (Okay, redundant...) see
<http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Diseases/Gastrointestinal.pdf>

scroll down about 2/5ths of the way and the sections on coronaviruses
will begin with the older enteric form and then go into the new
systemic form.

[Posted in FML 7261]