In a pers com Dr. Kiupel informed me that porcine circovirus is also found in healthy pigs with no disease, and that may also be the case with dogs. Plus, some of the dogs dying with the same symptoms have not had circovirus. (He is not only a respected veterinary pathology expert, but was one of the people who first discovered porcine circovirus.) That does not mean that people who have flu symptoms should not be careful around ferrets. They should. Ferrets catch influenza from people. That is a known fact. Nor does it mean that ferrets might or might not also get this syndrome that the dogs have been getting -- just that it is too early in the investigation to blame circovirus for what is occurring. Basically: more needs to be known and people need to avoid jumping to conclusions prematurely (MY words). Remember when people jumped to conclusions prematurely on ECE (and decades later some people STILL incorrectly blame influenza instead of knowing that it is a coronavirus)? Remember when people incorrectly blamed FIP for the FIP-like coronavirus infections in ferrets (which is ferret systemic coronavirus) even though it is a mutant of ECE? Remember when all sorts of incorrect possibilities were suggested by many (including me) for the fasciitis syndrome that killed so horribly -- but luckily by then most people had figured out that suggestions are only suggestions just as hypotheses are only hypotheses? Resources on some of these illnesses: http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/Publications.php https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Pages/Circovirus-in-Dogs-Frequently-Asked-Questions.aspx Googling circovirus Kiupel will get you somewhere over a dozen separate refs and he studied pigeon circovirus in pigeons, too. So, use that boulder of salt and know that some may be jumping to conclusions before enough data is in, AND that this syndrome needs more study so if the symptoms appear DO get the dog to the veterinarian immediately, AND just in case this MIGHT be another illness that dogs and ferrets can share DO keep the ferrets away from infected dogs. 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/ 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 7928]