>Dr Williams, >...I have a question about ECE (the green slime). I am about to adopt >another ferret (this makes two) and the local shelter said that right now >they wouldn't let me adopt one if I already had a ferret because their >ferrets had been exposed to ECE.... Do you have any information on the >length of time a ferret can be a carrier of ECE? Unfortunately, six months is our best estimate at the time, and this is not definite. Ferrets carry the lesion in the intestine for at least a year after infection - ECE causes a pronounced inflammatory response in reaction to the presence of the virus. Other similar viruses in domestic animals can have shedding times of up to a year. >It has been about five months since they were all well, but I don't want to >risk getting my ferret sick... If your ferret has not had ECE, I wouldn't risk it either, especially if your ferret it 4 years or over. A normal healthy ferret probably wouldn't have a lot of trouble with ECE, but then your ferret would be a source of virus for other animals that it would contact. My best suggestion would be to find a place where ECE has not been a problem for adoption. You may even want to contact Marshall Farms for a direct purchase - they have not yet seen ECE as a result of the closed facility procedures that they use. To the best of my knowledge, animals coming right out of MF should be free of ECE. Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP Chief Pathologist, AccuPath Dept. of Veterinary Pathology [log in to unmask] Armed Forces Institute of Pathology [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1449]