I'm catching up on FMLs from back before Christmas and wanted to comment on a few infectious disease threads. Robyn Stephens asked about Coccidia. Coccidia is an order of intestinal parasites that infect vertebrates. (Don't confuse this with Coccidioides, which is a parasitic fungal infection that causes "valley fever" [aka San Joaquin fever] in humans.) There have been quite a few reports of Coccidia in ferret stool. So much so, that some people think that it may show up as an opportunistic disease in ferrets that are stressed or ill from some other cause (cancer, infection, etc.) That doesn't mean you shouldn't treat it when it's found but finding Coccidia would make me look for whatever else allowed the Coccidia to get a foothold. Tina Femea asked whether ferrets can get HIV from a human. The answer is absolutely not. I know a number of HIV researchers and they looked for an animal model of HIV for years and none gets AIDS from HIV-1 the way humans do. The HIV-1 virus is specifically adapted to humans. (Some strains of the HIV-2 virus are essentially identical to the simian virus, SIV, which infects chimpanzees and cause a slower and less agressive form of AIDS in humans.) So, your ferret cannot get HIV. They are primate viruses, just as humans can't get feline immunodeficiency virus--that's a feline virus. The biggest worry to your mother is whether she catches anything from people and pets around her. She should carefully clean any accidental bites or scratches from the ferret or from any source to avoid infection. Kisses on the lips from the ferret is probably not a wise practice. On the plus side, mustelids are known for transmitting far, far fewer diseases to humans than dogs or cats do. In that respect, a ferret may be a safer pet for a person with immune deficiency. Speaking of which, there was a comment a few issues back about infectious agents causing immune suppression. Just to set things straight--infectious organisms often sabbotage part of the immune system to infect a host, but some people have the misconception that an infection with, say, Helicobacter, suppresses the *entire* immune system. That's not true. Mammalian immune systems are very complex and it would be nearly impossible to suppress all aspects of the immune system. A microbe usually only needs to circumvent one part to successfully infect you or your ferret. In fact, if a microbe were to suppress the entire immune system, it would give *other* germs an opportunity to take advantage of its efforts. Be suspicious about claims for herbal or homeopathic remedies that claim to "boost the immune system." Immunity is very complex and involves dozens of different components. No single treatment can boost every aspect of the immune system and you don't want a supersensitive immune system either or you end up with auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Finally, John Rosloot asked about the surgical technique for treating left ventricular hypertrophy in ferrets with cardiomyopathy? I saw the article in Discover, too, John, but I doubt there's much chance of it being used on ferrets anytime soon. You'd need a cardiopulmonary bypass machine for a ferret for starters, and the surgery would be very difficult as a ferret has a heart about the size of an acorn. Human cardiac surgeons have a lower success rate with bypass operations in some women in part because their their vessels are smaller than in a man and harder to reattach properly. If it's tougher to do something routine by bypass surgery in a 105-lb woman, imagine how difficult it would be to resect a ventricle in a 1-lb ferret? If any of the vet schools specialize in microsurgery they might give it a try but I can't imagine the odds of a good outcome are in your favor. It was a nice thought though. --Jeff Johnston ([log in to unmask]) [Posted in FML issue 1804]