When we adopted 4 ferrets who were all in great health, we did not know what
we were getting in to.  Two of the four came down with what seemed to be
symptoms of ECE.  The other two never got it and our resident 5 never did
either.  It has been 3 months and we seem to be in the clear.  Here's the
autopsy report on one of them...the other is similar.  Sampled were: Lung,
Liver, Kidney, Lymph Node, Heart, Spleen, Pancreas, Intestines.  Diagnosis:
Bacterial Lymphadenitis, Suspected Septicemia.
 
Histology: Sections of liver show diffuse lipidosis and there are many
gram-negative bacteria within mesenteric lymph nodes and adjacent tissues.
Some sections of lymph nodes show foci od suppurative inflammation.  There
is a small nodule of pancreatic tissue composed of normal acinar tissue and
hyperplastic islet tissue within the mesentery.  This pancreatic lesion
appears to be an incidental finding.  No significant lesions were noted in
the lung, kidney, myocardium, spleen and intestine.
 
The inflammation and bacteria within the mesenteric lymph nodes suggest a
bacterial enteritis which may be focal in nature resulting in bacteremia and
septicemia.  A diffuse enteritis was not noted in the tissues submitted.
 
Basically, the ferrets were dropped off at the house, and within a week
(supposedly due to stress of a new house) they had the green poops.  They
both became anorexic-refusing even the special treats they loved so much.
Funny thing is, their intestines were fine.  This stuff ended up in the
lymph nodes (not expected at all).  Kaytee, once she got it, she never
seemed to pull out of it, even when she got sub-q fluids several times a
day.  But Calvin seemed to get better (started eating and drinking on his
own) and one day when I came home from work during lunch, he whimpered in
pain when I lifted him up, wouldn't even stand, and when we took him to the
vet, they couldn't get a temperature reading on him...an hour later he
"walked over the bridge".  The 2-3 weeks of trying to fight this was
grueling on me, but mostly on the ferrets.  I've never had to force
feed/drink and medicate so much in my life.  And no animal should ever have
to go through the body-wasting like they did.
 
Is this the "second" kind of ECE that Jason Poole wrote about on the 2nd of
August?  Has anyone else run into this?  We're trying to find answers like:
is this really viral in nature?  If so, can we get the virus to grow in the
lab?  If there are different strains of ECE, or if there is another virus
out there causing this, how will we be able to differentiate between the
two?  Can we just vaccinate?  Or is supportive care ALL we can do?  Why
didn't the other 7 become afflicted (especially if it IS viral)?
 
Any thought would be greatly appreciated....
 
Audrey Walker
[Posted in FML issue 2393]