To Carol Anne Smith:
 
>So, for shelters which have had occurances of ECE (a.k.a. green diahrrea),
>how do you adopt out ferrets?  Ferrets who have had ECE and recovered from
>it can still shed the virus to uninfected ferrets.
 
    That's a difficult question and one best directed to breeders.  I
suggest adopting to households who have either already been exposed, or who
do not already have ferrets.  Cases in which new animals were adopted and
everone came down with ECE abound.
 
>I would love to get a 3rd ferret, and I'd love to adopt one from a shelter.
>My 2 fuzzbeans have not been exposed to ECE.  Is adoption from a shelter
>possible?
 
   Possible yes, recommended - no.  I don't let animals that have been
exposed to ECE around my ferrets - who are starting to get up there in years.
If you have young healthy ferrets - it probably is at best an inconvenience.
But if you have a ferret who is older than 3 or four or has other health
problems, you should carefully consider the risks involved.
 
>Also, the shelter I'd be getting a ferret from would be either THE
>Milwaukee WI one or one in Illinois.  I heard that both have had ECE.
 
    Yes, that's true.  But it's getting to the point where almost all of
the shelters have been exposed to it.
 
--
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP              Department of Veterinary Pathology
[log in to unmask]                       Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
(202) 782-2600/2602                     Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
[Posted in FML issue 1239]