To Tony and Donna:
(Excerpt from Reebok's path report:)
> Alterations are suggestive of a primary viral enteritis as commonly
>observed with parvovirus infection. The possibility of an aggressive
>corona virus with secondary bacterial endotoxemia is also considered.
>... CULTERE/TEST RESULTS; no salmonella sp. isolated, no pathogens
>isolated @ 48 hours, no campylobacter sp. isolated, clostridium
>perfringens isolated.
Okay, this explains the problem. The changes in the intestine ar
compatible with what is seen in dogs and cats, and I have seen this several
times in ferrets, but it's not parvovirus. Parvoviruses have never been
isolated from the ferret intestine, and I have looked on several occasions
myself. The presence of bacteria and the isolation of Clostridium is
interesting- but the pathologist doesn't comment on whether the bacteria are
consistent with the microscopic appearance of Clostridium or not.
Clostridium perfringens can produce a toxin that causes similar changes
in the intestine to what has been seen in Reebok and I have long considered
this as a possibility in this condition, but as most of the cases that I
have been sent had no culture results, I have never been able to prove it.
Also a diagnosis of clostridial enterotoxemia depends on a post that was
done immediately after death, because Clostridium is a normal inhabitant of
the intestine, and may proliferate rapidly after death, obscuring its
antemortem levels.
At this point, we don't know why Clostridium proliferates in certain
ferrets. I have seen it at the Ntaional Zoo in black-footed ferret kits,
but no predisposing factors were ever found. It appears to be a very
sporadic disease, and if your other ferrets are okay at this point, I don't
think you have much to worry about with them.
I wouldn't consder vaccinating for parvovirus at this point - I don't
think there is any use at all in it....
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
[log in to unmask] OR
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1385]
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