To Pam Barber -
>Excuse my ignorance, but when was the last update on green diahrea?
>I have the general faq of 12/94 and the recent green diahrea faq
>(3/95?).  Thanks.
 
    Pam - the green diarrhea FAQ of 3/95 is still good.  Only a few changes
since then, but none as far as diagnosis or treatment.  Since March - we have
seen the virus, but have yet not been able to grow a long-lived cutlure of it
in the lab.  We will have to be able to passage it through several cell lines
before we can think about creating a vaccine.  We have seen the virus on
photographs from an electron microscope, but have not found a particular cell
line that it wants to grow in.  We've been through five different cell lines
with no luck - next week we are going to try fetal ferret tissue in hopes
that the virus will be able to grow indefinitely in that.
 
    If you have three ferrets and only on is sick, it's probably not ECE
(epizootic catarrhal enteritis) - the proper name for the GD.  When we
created an outbreak at the AFIP - the virus quickly passed through 12 ferrets
in two days - its EXTREMELY contagious.  Remember that a lot of things can
cause green diarrhea - the most common being what we term a "gastrointestinal
indescretion" - meaning the ferret ate something he/she shouldn't.
 
    Watch for any signs of blood in the stool, or a tarry color to the stool.
I would suggest an inch of Laxatone twice a day, so if the ferret has eaten
something, it may pass through easier.  If there is no imporvemtn - i.e.  the
ferret still has diarrhea in two days - whether he is eating well or not -
it's time to see the vet.
 
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 1194]