To All subscribers of the Ferret List:
THE LATEST ON THE GREEN DIARRHEA VIRUS:
Since there have been seveal requests for more information on the green
diarrhea virus, I thought that I would update the general public. Currently, I
am still the only person, to my knowledge, who is looking at cases of the Green
diarrhea, or the Mystery Virus, or any of several other names that it is now
being called.
As of April 26, 1993, I have received 12 cases of animals dying from the
GDV. (Green Diarrhea Virus). First off, I must preface my remarks with the fact
that green diarrhea is a very non-specific finding and may be seen in any number
of diarrheas, as I'll mention later. Just because diarrhea is green doesn't
really mean anything other than a very increased rate of passage through the
gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, we have not yet isolated an etiologic
agent, be it virus or otherwise. the way that this disease got its name was
strictly due to the microscopic appearance of intestine from affected ferrets
which resembles that caused by a viral disease. But an agent has not yet been
identified in the cases of this disease that have been examined.
The breakdown of the twelve cases to date includes: 2 cases of
intestinal lymphosarcoma, 4 cases of coccidiosis, one case of eosinophilic
gastroenteritis, 2 cases with no lesions (possibly the submitting veterinarian
didn't submit the right sections of gut), 1 case that was severely decomposed
beyond yielding any decent information, and 3 cases which have lesions of
enteritis but no apparent etiology.
As of today, further testing on these cases has failed to yield an
etiologic agent common to the 12 cases. I have examined all twelve cases, and
on ones without a primary agent identified, further tests have been conducted
including electron microscopy, bacterial culture, virus isolation, bacterial
enterotoxin assay, and several others - all negative. I am currently evaluating
the species of coccidia identified from four of the animals to see if the 33%
incidence is of significance in this disease.
I continue to hear reports of individual cases of this diarrhea,
although many cases are reported with no contact with other individuals, or that
animals have had it "Off and On" for years. I have come to the conclusion that
most people are using the term Green Diarrhea to encompass all cases of
undiagnosed diarrhea in ferrets at this time, and as such, I would like to
suggest that the reports are far greater than the incidence of cases actually
is.
The biggest problem so far is that lack of tissue to work with. Most of
the cases that come to me from practitioners are of relatively poor quality for
examination fo the intestine, which breaks down after death within a relatively
short time. Additionally, many practitioners are freezing tissue, which
precludes microscopic examination. It is imperative that post-mortems be
conducted and tissues preserved in a timely fashion on these animals, preferably
within 12 hours of death, and 24 hours at the outset.
For those people who are concerned about this condition in their ferrets
- the best way to deal with it is to prevent unknown ferrets from entering your
colonies. If you maintain a closed colony, you won't ever see this problem.
Although it most likely can be transmitted following handling of infected
ferrets and transmision to other uninfected animals by well-meaning individuals,
the chances of this are fairly slim, especially if you wash carefully and change
clothes. There have been no studies as to how this disease is transmitted, so
it's better to be safe then sorry.
For animals that have the "disease" - the best treatment is adequate
hydration. Subcutaneous fluids have markedly increased the survival rate.
Avoid milk or soybean based products - Pedialyte can be used to replenish fluid
and mineral needs in animals that do not require subcutaneous fluids. A trip to
your vet is necessary - during this trip a fecal floatation for coccidial
parasites and a prescription for broad-spectrum antibiotics (to prevent
secondary bacterial infections) is highly recommended. All animals exhibiting
signs of diarrhea should be isolated in a separate room from any other ferrets
that you may have, and strict sanitation is the rule.
If you have cases of this disease, please consult with your vet and
arrange to send tissues in 10% formalin to
Dr. Bruce Williams
Department of Veterinary Pathology
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington D.C. 20306-6000
That's the most current info -
Bruce Williams, DVM, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask] (202) 576-2453/2454/2601/2602
[Posted in FML issue 0619]
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