There seems to be a problem with a "new" illness in New Zealand.  The only
details we have right now are sketchy at best.  We do not know if this is
contagious and although to me it looks as though it may NOT be (e.g. one
ferret gets it, but others in the same house do not), that is still a
worry.  My own personal ferrets, thank heavens! are all fine and have not
shown any of these symptoms.
 
A majority of New Zealand ferrets have shown no signs of having whatever
this is, and thus far only a small number *seem* to have it.  However, the
fact that there is an unknown illness is one of great concern and needs to
be addressed immediately.  Any vets on this list, your input or suggestions
are all welcomed.
 
Ferrets are experiencing hind leg paralysis, then the paralysis seems to
spread forwards.  Many have to be put down apparently within a matter of
days.  *No* other symptoms.  They eat, drink, poop and play just fine -
just have no ability to use the back legs at all.  This has occured in at
least seven ferrets in the past two months, it apparently can happen very
suddenly.  One who had it for some time would play, eat and drink normally,
but was so paralyzed in the back that her bladder needed to be expressed
manually, and it was evidently extremely painful.  She ended up staying
with the vet and the progression of the paralysis could evidently be
watched travelling up the body :o(
 
Autopsy results so far are only preliminary, the full results have not come
back, and although the vet in question has been calling the lab daily for
the results, they haven't done them :o(   Preliminary results on the one
ferret the vet could tell me about (since I was with the owner) were spinal
cord necrosis (sorry I'm not a vet - think that's what the vet told me!)
and an embolism.  Her comment was that *that* ferret was particularly bad,
and it looked as though the spinal cord was 'rotten'.  That ferret had been
put down within a week (I believe six days) after first showing symptoms.
Talking with another woman who also had her ferret autopsied, the same
thing was found with that ferret in her preliminary results.
 
The vet stated that not all get this in such a startling degree, that
with some it's been incredibly rapid, and others it's been more of a slow
progression.  One ferret who is suspected of having this has had it for
some months, sometimes seeming to get better, sometimes getting worse.  It
seems to be attacking various ages and both males and females.  For now,
most of the cases are in one area, however there is one outside the area
who *may* have this.  With no knowledge of what this is, there could be
cases of it out there without our knowledge, or potentially other things
which this is being blamed on which have similarities but are not the same.
 
Some cases which have been *speculated* to have been the same problem were
initially diagnosed as distemper, however there have been no outbreaks of
distemper around the area at all in some time (I've been told close to a
decade) and all animals are vaccinated.(One suggestion was actually a bad
reaction to vaccine since New Zealand has *no* vaccine approved for ferrets
and have to use dog vaccines, usually for 5 or more 'dog diseases') I asked
the vet if this could have a viral cause, and she said it's a possibility.
 
Apparently she's thought of Aleutians, but dismissed it, since Aleutians is
found *only* in a tiny population of feral ferrets in the south island, and
never in the north island.  (I don't know if this has been tested for, and
I'm waiting for word on that) Someone has speculated that it may have a
fungal cause, but with the sketchy details we have at present, I believe
that no cause can be locked down until test results come back.
Unfortunately, with many vets, clinics and labs here ferrets are shunted to
the end of the list for anything happening, and with the time the lab is
taking to even look at the samples, they may already (IMO only, since I
know nothing of these procedures) be useless.
 
This vet is at her wits end on this.  There is no-one here that can even
offer a glimmer of an idea, and many vets have had something similar and
have dismissed them as distemper or physical injury without testing or
looking for either.  Other vets wouldn't have a clue what the problem is
since they see so very few ferrets.
 
After speaking with one of the people who owned a ferret who was put down
because of this approximately a week ago, it looks as though this may have
been around for some time - cases of paralysis in ferrets which were put
down are recorded over a year ago, but were assumed to have been physical
injuries (since it happened so suddenly) or distemper.  However, in the
older cases, no necropsies were done, and only basic ones have been done on
most others.  Now that it is evident that there is *something* it is hoped
that the true cause of this can be ascertained.
 
If this is contagious it must be stopped *NOW*, if not, a reason for this
problem must be found so that no more lives will be lost.
 
Sam
[Posted in FML issue 2703]