>Subject: MF & kits with ECE?
>I read the FML religiously, but perhaps I missed this... has anyone else
>noticed a definite increase in the number of reports of diarrhea in
>established ferrets after bringing a new MF kit home? ...
>I don't want to implicate MF, but it sure sounds like they could be the
>source... or their distributor(s).  The odds of someone carrying the ECE
>virus into pet shops all around the state are slim to none I would think.
 
I'm another week behind on the FML, so if this has been discussed to death,
my apologies.
 
MF and PV and, as far as I know, any other east coast ferret farm are ECE
free.  How the kits are picking up ECE is through the distributorship of
ferrets.  Ferrets are shipped several ways:
 
1.  Pet shops order ferrets through a distributor, who orders from a farm or
farms, and collects them all and the pet shops pick up their ferrets from
the distributor.  If a distributor gets ferrets from several sources, they
can bring in ECE without knowing it, contaminate their holding area, expose
every ferret in this shipment and in future shipments, and since ECE in kits
looks like travel stress, be completely unaware that they are exposing
hundreds of animals to this highly transmitable virus.
 
2.  Pet shops who have really high orders (usually chains, but some privates
too) order directly from the farms.  These kits are shipped via the same
airlines and kept in the same holding areas as ECE infected kits have passed
through, so they may or may not pick up the virus in transit.
 
3.  Lastly, assuming the kit makes it to the pet shop uninfected, it could
contract ECE from well meaning ferret owners who's ferrets at home have or
had ECE, or from a previous batch of kits that the pet shop had in the
showcase.
 
I have yet to hear of a truely effective disinfectant method of killing the
virus in cages and holding areas for ferrets.  Therefore, ECE can spread
very easily and rapidly once it gains a foothold.
 
The Mid-Atlantic distrubution system for pet shops is indeed ECE infected.
I've confirmed it in too many pet shops.  The real problem is getting pet
shops to recognize the virus and warn potential ferret purchashers that if
they have older ferrets at home that have not been exposed, they could
seriously harm their existing pets with bringing a new kit home - WHAT,
AND LOSE A SALE?
 
Plus, there is such a turn-around in staff and management, that you can get
one pet shop up and educated, just to have the whole thing fall apart when
the best floor manager decides to change careers a week later.
 
The best line of attack against ECE is to educate Veterinarians.  If more
vets would recognize ECE as a real virus, and attack it more aggressivly
when first presented with an ill ferret, the recovery rate would skyrocket.
If you want to help, gather the ECE FAQ off Ferret Central and make copies
and mail them to all the vets in your phone book.
 
Pam Troutman
[Posted in FML issue 2345]