When we adopted 4 ferrets who were all in great health, we did not know what we were getting in to. Two of the four came down with what seemed to be symptoms of ECE. The other two never got it and our resident 5 never did either. It has been 3 months and we seem to be in the clear. Here's the autopsy report on one of them...the other is similar. Sampled were: Lung, Liver, Kidney, Lymph Node, Heart, Spleen, Pancreas, Intestines. Diagnosis: Bacterial Lymphadenitis, Suspected Septicemia. Histology: Sections of liver show diffuse lipidosis and there are many gram-negative bacteria within mesenteric lymph nodes and adjacent tissues. Some sections of lymph nodes show foci od suppurative inflammation. There is a small nodule of pancreatic tissue composed of normal acinar tissue and hyperplastic islet tissue within the mesentery. This pancreatic lesion appears to be an incidental finding. No significant lesions were noted in the lung, kidney, myocardium, spleen and intestine. The inflammation and bacteria within the mesenteric lymph nodes suggest a bacterial enteritis which may be focal in nature resulting in bacteremia and septicemia. A diffuse enteritis was not noted in the tissues submitted. Basically, the ferrets were dropped off at the house, and within a week (supposedly due to stress of a new house) they had the green poops. They both became anorexic-refusing even the special treats they loved so much. Funny thing is, their intestines were fine. This stuff ended up in the lymph nodes (not expected at all). Kaytee, once she got it, she never seemed to pull out of it, even when she got sub-q fluids several times a day. But Calvin seemed to get better (started eating and drinking on his own) and one day when I came home from work during lunch, he whimpered in pain when I lifted him up, wouldn't even stand, and when we took him to the vet, they couldn't get a temperature reading on him...an hour later he "walked over the bridge". The 2-3 weeks of trying to fight this was grueling on me, but mostly on the ferrets. I've never had to force feed/drink and medicate so much in my life. And no animal should ever have to go through the body-wasting like they did. Is this the "second" kind of ECE that Jason Poole wrote about on the 2nd of August? Has anyone else run into this? We're trying to find answers like: is this really viral in nature? If so, can we get the virus to grow in the lab? If there are different strains of ECE, or if there is another virus out there causing this, how will we be able to differentiate between the two? Can we just vaccinate? Or is supportive care ALL we can do? Why didn't the other 7 become afflicted (especially if it IS viral)? Any thought would be greatly appreciated.... Audrey Walker [Posted in FML issue 2393]