Troy Lynn and the FML
 
I just got a call today from a pet shop in Maryland who had a kit, then got
in two more, and now a week later they all have ECEish signs.  Their
distributor is Mid-Atlantic, in Springfield, VA (about two miles from my
house).
 
The above ferrets are MF kits, but the distributor gets ferrets from all
over, and I'm sure Canadians have been through their place.  I have heard of
too many stories where people bring home pet shop kits and they infect their
other ferrets with ECE.  NO FERRET SOURCE IS STILL A SAFE SOURCE.  There is
no such thing as a safe incubation period.
 
If you have older ferrets, please refrain from adopting or purchasing kits
unless your whole household has been exposed to ECE and is up to date on
shots - or you are willing to do fluids and feedings.  Yes, there are still
many ECE free places, but the rate of spread is incredible.  Three and a
half years ago it was unheard of; then it was only on the east coast in
1994; now it is everywhere (and maybe in Canada, though I have still not
heard of a Manitoba ferret coming down with it).
 
Just be careful.  I'm not one for spreading paranoia, but if you lost as
many ferrets as I have in the past, and still loose one occasionally to this
virus, and have to deal with it CONSTANTLY, you would be as wary as I.
 
Pam Grant
[Posted in FML issue 1584]