Donations to researchers working to improve the medical care of ferrets ultimately gives the information which saves ferret lives. Please, FEEL FREE TO SHARE this post as long as it is in its entirety and unchanged, or you may paraphrase and write your own article using this post as a resource for your writing. You may send it to ferret and veterinary lists; post it on your own ferret websites; include it in newsletters or magazines as either a post or a letter; send it to your own veterinarians, etc. Below is a link to a new piece of work, FUNDED ENTIRELY BY DONATIONS to the Ferret Health Advancement group at Michigan State University http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ which is getting the needed foundation on a very serious emerging disease in ferrets. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/11/12-0072_article.htm (COMPLETE article link above) Suggested citation for this article: Kiupel M, Desjardins DR, Lim A, Bolin C, Johnson-Delaney CA, Resau JH, et al. Mycoplasmosis in ferrets. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2012 Nov [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1811.120072 DOI: 10.3201/eid1811.120072 QUOTE OF ABSTRACT: Abstract We report an outbreak of severe respiratory disease associated with a novel Mycoplasma species in ferrets. During 2009--2012, a respiratory disease characterized by nonproductive coughing affected [apx] 8,000 ferrets, 6--8 weeks of age, which had been imported from a breeding facility in Canada. Almost 95% became ill, but almost none died. Treatments temporarily decreased all clinical signs except cough. Postmortem examinations of euthanized ferrets revealed bronchointerstitial pneumonia with prominent hyperplasia of bronchiole-associated lymphoid tissue. Immunohistochemical analysis with polyclonal antibody against Mycoplasma bovis demonstrated intense staining along the bronchiolar brush border. Bronchoalveolar lavage samples from 12 affected ferrets yielded fast-growing, glucose-fermenting mycoplasmas. Nucleic acid sequence analysis of PCR-derived amplicons from portions of the 16S rDNA and RNA polymerase B genes failed to identify the mycoplasmas but showed that they were most similar to M. molare and M. lagogenitalium. These findings indicate a causal association between the novel Mycoplasma species and the newly recognized pulmonary disease. END QUOTED ABSTRACT Addendum: I have just been told that the URL of the article might change in the future at the CDC site. If so, the CDC site has a GOOD search engine so at that time just use the search term: ferret mycoplasma at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov Please, add the note above to the post I just sent on Mycoplasma in ferrets when you use the post in your own publications, articles, websites, etc. Addendum 2: More in plain language for everyone's use: <http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/critter-news/2012/10/05/mycoplasmosis-in-ferrets-research-study-released.aspx> Sukie (not a vet) Ferrets make the world a game. 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) A nation is as free as the least within it. [Posted in FML 7570]