>On 2-23 Fozzy passed away while sleeping.
>
>He need to call the lab for some more answers, would call me back.
>Never called..  Finally today I got ahold of him and he said what they
>found was a Mycobacterium but he was not sure if it was Avium or ??(I am
>not sure on the spelling of what he said)
>
>He said depending on which one it was we may all need treatment and he
>needs to talk to the State People tomorrow and they may make me Euthanise
>all my ferrets!!!!!
 
Dear X:
 
Let me be blunt here - this is (relative) nonsense.  Mycobacterium avium
is the most ubiquitous of the mycobacteria in our environment, and all of
us, human, dog, cat and ferret, come in contact with it many many times a
day.  It does not pose a contagion risk to any normal healthy individual,
however, it may pose a small risk to infants, the aged, or
immunosuppressed people such as post-transplant recipients or people with
AIDS.
 
It is a very difficult disease to treat, and carries a poor prognosis for
those ferrets affected, but in the normal household, there is little
chance of spread.  There is often some unidentified mechanism for
immunesuppression in affected animals, and I have seen several outbreaks,
but only in families of dogs which all have some genetic defect which
affects the immune system.
 
I get this question several times a year, and my answer is always the
same - without family members who are immunosuppressed, there is a) no
need to euthanize the animal, and b) no need for undue worry.  If we were
so worried about Mycobacterium avium - we'd never venture out of the
house (or even out of bed) every day.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
 
>The other day someone from the vet called and wanted to know the age of
>my son, and when I acquired each pet in my home.  And what was done with
>Fozzy's Body.  I asked to speak to the vet but he was not in any of the
>offices that day.  Today another person called and said the vet "thinks"
>it may  be TB., wanted to know if I can exhume Fozzy's body and bring it
>in for testing.  Wouldn't it be to late for this?  Fozzy passed on Feb.
>23rd.  I asked her If she knew the name of the Mycobacterium found, she
>said no, just the vet thinks it might be TB.  So, what do I do now?
 
Honestly, I'd thank the vet's office for their concern, but unless the vet
can give you a really compelling and true reason to do this, you'd prefer
not to.  If the issue is that important, you'd think that the vet himself
would call.
 
Let me reiterate - M. avium is omnipresent in our environment, and you
have to be immunosuppressed to be at risk.  Your dogs won't get it, your
cats won't get it, your ferrets won't get it, and assuming that you and
your son are healthy, you won't get it.
 
I don't think your vet is all that informed about mycobacterial
infections - they are uncommon in most domestic animals, and M. avium
really poses little threat.  There are certainly exceptions to any case,
but the odds are way in your favor.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
 
[Sukie note: The James Fox text also refers to this species of
Mycobacterium as not even one that is required to be reported, and that
those at risk would be likely to be immunosuppressed individuals.  The
vet has likely confused it with M. bovine (which is almost non-existent
in U.S. ferrets since people went away from raw food to pellets and since
raw milk mostly disappeared, or has confused it with M. tuberculosis.
Same genus, different species...]
[Posted in FML issue 3716]