I've seen this list gain 600 or 700 subscribers in the short time (8-9 mos.) I've been here. As the list gets longer, some questions are bound to fall through the cracks, by people thinking "Oh someone else will answer...why clutter the list/someone's mailbox with my reply, in addition to everyone else's...". I particularly think that in the case of your question (period of contagiousness for ECE victims/carriers) that from what I gather, we're not really sure yet, so maybe no one wanted to chance it, or at least wanted to leave it to the vets on the list. Said vets are greatly outnumbered here, and with practices and all, may miss posts, or, like the rest of us, wait for someone more knowledgable to answer; and Dr. Williams, who as a veterinary pathologist may be more knowledgeable on such things, has been away for a while. Add to that that Drs. Weiss, Dutton, Purcell, and our many techs and shelter people have been forced to spend their time writing disclaimers lately! , and, well, sometimes you gotta --Ed [log in to unmask] [Moderator's note: Also see notes in Dr. Dutton's reply, below. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 1464]