ttp://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_077_2011_Release/index.asp

Shiga toxin producing E. coli can be fatal for both ferrets and humans,
and when survived can cause the same serious kidney damage in both.

Since there are people who provide beef to their ferrets. Cooking kills
the bacterium but some references say that it may not denature enough
of the toxin. More recently more refs are saying that cooking well done
often helps enough. Personally, in such a situation I'd return such
beef simply because it seems a silly risk when there are options,
especially with studies like this from last year:

<http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=249821>

Three article about this in ferrets:

http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/185/4/550.long

http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/full/42/12/5904

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/37/3/617

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
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)

[Posted in FML 7196]