After reading 6 days of FML's in one sitting, I had some observations about the discussions on ECE. (I hope I don't regret this...) I was really glad to see such informative discussion on this serious topic. #1. The thought of my ferrets getting ECE scares the sh** out of me! (no pun intended!) #2. ECE may hit ferrets that have compromised immune systems really hard, but then a simple cold can kill a ferret if it is already sick. I almost lost my then 5 1/2 year old Tillie (with adrenal problems) when I adopted a ferret that developed a cold a day after bringing her home and she gave the cold to Tillie. My vet said to give up on Tillie, but I didn't. It took a lot of effort. She's now 7. #3. ECE is *not* everywhere that the FML is read! To my knowledge, we have had no cases in the Northwest (yes, Ferrets Anonymous reported 1 case in Southern Oregon 1 1/2 years ago but ECE was not confirmed and no more cases were reported. This report is suspect.) But it only takes 1 incident to change this. The OFA gets 100's of ferrets every year. What if one of these came from an area that had an outbreak? We quarantine new arrivals but given the tenacity of ECE, is this enough? #4. My heart goes out to those of you who currently have an outbreak or have worked very hard at keeping it in check. And my sympathies to those owners whose ferrets died from this horrible bug. Despite the advice given by several extremely knowledgeable and well respected sources, I would never, *never* intentionally expose my ferrets to ECE! Exposing my 11 ferrets to a bug that can potentially cause problems for them and their friends for their entire life is not for me. I will do my best to keep my ferrets away from the ECE bug and hope that a vaccine is developed soon. #5. Given how easily ECE can spread, how can anyone be certain that pet store ferrets don't have ECE? What if the person who handled the kit 30 minutes ago had ECE virus on their clothes? I don't think this is necessarily a safe assumption. #6. Dr. Williams, is there any recent news in your quest for answers? I would like to hand out an updated report at our Ferret Fun Match on July 16th so that everyone can be made aware of the situation. (BTW, I doubt if I will take my ferrets to this just because of ECE. I will be content to work at the information booth.) Is there any sanitation agent that we should use in the common areas at the Fun Match between ferrets (such as on the scales when we weigh for heaviest/lightest ferret)? -Carla [Posted in FML issue 1248]