As many of you know, ferrets, like humans, can get E.coli poisoning,
and they also have died from that while others have suffered permanent
kidney damage, again just as happens with humans. Those who do not know
this can look in the separate FHL and FML archives and if you want to
save time then use the URLs in my sig lines.

A number of you also will know that studies of rates of E. coli in
foodstuffs like eggs and chicken have varied in results (again in
archives). In some cases the cause is obvious. Unless a poisoning is so
severe it is usually not reported, and even then in many vulnerable
individuals who have other health problem such as many of the elderly,
people tend to figure the individuals passed for other reasons.

Now, it may be known why some tests of the actual items do not show E.
coli even when it is present.

For those of you who get access (since I am not sure if this one is
generally open to non-subscribers or not), here is a Science News
article
<http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/336725/title/E._coli_evade_detection_by_going_dormant>
which cites and uses as references:

P. Aurass, R. Prager and A. Flieger.
EHEC/EAEC O104:H4 strain linked with the 2011 German outbreak of
haemolytic uremic syndrome enters into the viable but non-culturable
state in response to various stresses and resuscitates upon stress
relief.
Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 12, December 2011, p. 3139.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2011.02604-x.
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2011.02604.x/abstract>

A. Buck and J.D. Oliver. Survival of spinach-associated Helicobacter
pylori in the viable but nonculturable state.
Food Control, Vol. 21, August 2010, p. 1150.
doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2010.01.010.
<http://journals1.scholarsportal.info/details.xqy?uri=/09567135/v21i0008/1150_soshpitvbns.xml>

L.-D. Dinu and S. Bach.
Induction of viable but nonculturable Escherichia coli O157:H7 in the
phyllosphere of lettuce: a food safety risk factor.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 77, December 2011, p. 8295
doi: 10.1128/AEM.05020-11

J.D. Oliver. Recent findings on the viable but nonculturable state
in pathogenic bacteria.
FEMS Microbiology Review, Vol. 34, July 2010, p. 415.
doi: 10.111/j.1574-6976.2009.00200.x.
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1574-6976.2009.00200.x/abstract>

J.D. Oliver. The viable but nonculturable state in bacteria.
The Journal of Microbiology, Vol. 43, February 2005, p. 93
http://www.msk.or.kr/jsp/view_old_journalD.jsp?paperSeq=2134

National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
Frequently asked questions about Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
<http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/ecoli_o157h7/index.html#germany>

D.A. Rasko, et al.
Origins of the E. coli strain causing an outbreak of hemolytic-uremic
syndrome in Germany. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 365, August
25, 2011, p. 709.
doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1106920.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1106920

Rather than risk violating their copyright with a longer quote I will
include just a few sentences:

>Researchers think they now know why a particularly virulent form of E.
>coli... was so hard to trace: The germs responsible eluded detection
>by going into a self-induced deep sleep.

>Two new studies show that when stressed, E. coli can turn off most
>signs of life... [Food inspectors'] germ-screening techniques rely
>on germs reproducing to establish the presence of live bacteria.

>That is because to detect the presence of E. coli food inspections
>use the technique of culturing the bacteria, so bacteria which is not
>reproducing will not appear to be present. The term for when this
>happens in the lab is VBNC (viable but nonculturable) so, yes, these
>bacteria will reproduce in ferrets and people and cause illness, in
>some cases severe and even fatal illness. Note:

>Once resuscitated, the germs still had all of the features needed to
>be infective... they had retained the genes to produce their lethal
>toxin and to make the sticky hairlike features that foster gut
>attachment.

So, now a little bit more of the puzzle is known. This one can be a
killer for ferrets and often also for humans.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake:  "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 7267]