I just want to give everyone a heads-up about CEP testing at Blue Cross Animal Hospital. After a couple of weeks without a CEP testing facility, I had a large number of ferrets to be tested. A very ferret knowledgeable volunteer and I tested all the new arrivals, which belonged to several groups, and tested the volunteer's ferrets. When the results came back I was alarmed to have 4 positive results. Not only was this a lot of positives for our region but the ferrets were from different groups quarantined in separate areas and one was from my volunteer's business. Her business all previously tested negative. I called Blue Cross and spoke to Dr. Blau regarding the results and my concerns. Dr. Blau was very receptive informative and interested in the unusual results. Let me also mention that his facility has been testing minks for over 10 years and they are quite experienced with the test, with the animals being tested and with the reliability of the tests. He offered to retest the specimens using two different CEP 'plates'. The second set of results showed that 2 of the previously mentioned 'positives' were indeed negative on both 'plates', while 2 ferrets remained positive. The two positives were the only ones from the same group so these results were reasonable. In another conversation with Dr. Blau (he is readily available to answer questions and offer information), he recommended that I test the ferrets again in 6 weeks because there are factors which affect the results such as some acute illnesses and some medications. For those of you who use the Blue Cross facility, please don't be alarmed if you get positive results. Contact Dr. Blau with your concerns and he will retest them. In researching information about CEP tests, several sources mention false positives being caused by other factors. False negatives are rare to impossible. The equipment used by Blue Cross may be more sensitive to these factors. I am very comfortable with Blue Cross for continued testing and I am confident that Dr. Blau and his team want to provide quality results. Robin FerretFirst, a rescue and an attitude. [Posted in FML issue 5165]