Several threads to respond to. First, Bruce Williams wondered if he would be too inflammatory if he compared distemped in ferrets to the fatality seen in Ebola [Reston] infections in humans. Not at all. During the latest outbreak of Ebola-Zaire in Ivory Coast about two years ago, about 85% of those infected died. Given that case-fatality rate, distemper in ferrets is much more lethal than Ebola-Zaire. Distemper may even be nastier since it takes longer to die. At least Ebola-Zaire is relatively quick. (BTW, I specify Ebola *Zaire* because there is also Ebola-Reston, which has not yet caused a fatality in humans, and is actually from the Philippines and not from Africa, although Ebola-Reston *can* be fatal in some Asian macaques.) Adrienne Boerger asked about colds in ferrets. This may sound like splitting hairs to everyone, but I'm an infectious disease person so I *have* to that ferrets are susceptible to influenza...specifically influenza A (presumably they can get influenza B and C, too, but I haven't seen that documented). I haven't seen any real documentation that ferrets get the cold, or if they *do* get the common cold, which of the many cold viruses are pathogenic in ferrets. (In humans, the common cold is caused by rhinoviruses, adenoviruses and coronaviruses [yes, a somewhat-related cousin of the purported-cause of ECE], and probably a few viruses I'm not thinking of right now. There are literally hundreds of different strains of these cold viruses, which is why you're never totally "immune" to the common cold.) I'm not saying that ferrets cannot get cold viruses...just that it hasn't been scientifically documented if they do, and which specific viruses are passed from human to ferret. Finally, Trish mentioned that the worst part about ECE is the fear of it. I would certainly echo her comments about fearing ECE. However, I'd still urge caution in purposely exposing young ferrets, especially kits to ECE. The word is that ECE is a coronavirus, in which case, it's worth noting that some intestinal coronaviruses are *more* lethal in very young (e.g., recently weaned) animals. There's a mouse coronavirus called Mouse Hepatitis Virus that is much more devastating in young mouse pups. Since ECE isn't characterized yet, it's hard to say if it's similar to other intestinal coronaviruses. But, until ECE *is* identified, it's still prudent to try to avoid all exposure when possible, especially to very young, old and otherwise debilitated ferrets. Obviously, it's not always possible to avoid exposure in settings such as shelters. However, those who take their ferrets to shows, especially where many people travel from far away to convene, should be very cautious about exposures and hygiene and demand stringent measures to limit possible spread of ECE by show coordinators. Until we know what ECE really is and have a test for it, we'll all need to be vigilant to prevent unnecessary spread of the virus. BTW, for those interested, there's a recent article in the journal, "Emerging Infectious Diseases" on techniques for detecting unculturable pathogens...like ECE. The info in this article won't be of direct use for 99% of vets out there, but it might be worth pointing your vet to it if he/she has seen ECE or other mystery bugs and wants to investigate further but doesn't know what is available. Vets who have access to research universities or vet schools with molecular biology labs would be able to use the information in this paper. The article is available on the Web and I can direct interested people to it. (Note: It is *very* technical and heavy on the molecular biology.) --Jeff Johnston, ([log in to unmask]) [Posted in FML issue 1670]