>From:    AKHeat <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: ECE or not ECE....
>... there are a few reasons we are starting to think it wasn't ECE.  One
>of the biggest being none of our guys got sick.  I kept her 4 in a separate
>room with the door shut and anytime I had contact with them I wore scrubs
>over my clothes and then took a shower and changed clothes when I came out
>of the room.  The whole time her kids were eating on there own and drinking
>lots of water on there own.  Is it we just did everything right and
>therefore our kids didn't get it or was this some other intestinal thing
>that wasn't as contagious
 
Lisa, you did everything right and could very well have avoided infecting
your ferrets because of the caution you practiced.  Up until a week and a
half ago, I never had ECE in my house (a story I won't get into right now)
because I was careful (paranoid!) and probably had a little luck thrown in.
I have gone to our shelter every weekend for months to scrub litter pans and
cages and our shelter is ECE active.  I never carried it into my home with
me.  I always stripped in the garage when I got home and headed right for
the shower.
 
Also, when we went to the FML 10th anniversary party in January, I left my
ECE free boys at our shelter.  It was a risk, but there is no one else I
would leave them with and it was either that or skip the 10th party.
Everyone I talked to had the opinion that they would be fine if kept out of
contact with the other ferrets.  Angela kept them in a separate, but open,
part of the house and assured me they would probably be just fine.  They
were.  I doubt that the ECE they have now is a result of that visit, since
it usually manifests itself around 48 hours after exposure.
 
I'm not sure if it's been determined whether or not ECE is airborne, but it
doesn't seem to be.  On the other hand, it seems that just the act of
handling an ECE active ferret is enough for you to carry it to someone else.
Scrubbing and changing clothes (shoes too) will help to avoid spreading the
contamination.
 
For the ferrets,
Mike
 
* Michael F. Janke, [log in to unmask]
* Secretary, South Florida Ferret Club & Rescue
*
* Visit our web site:  http://www.gate.net/~mjanke
[Posted in FML issue 2244]