A vet on the Mystery Illnesses A List has asked that any new ferrets breaking with the mystery Illness(es?) have parvo tests just in case there might be a mutant of parvo which now attacks ferrets, just as 20 years ago it mutated and attacked dogs. She notes that this is highly unlikely, BTW. Of course, given the severity of Parvo and the wide background in it, it would be a good one to either eliminate or verify up front. You can't miss this (these?) thing(s?); though not appearing so far to be highly contagious high numbers which get it (them?) die. Some cases involved severe diarrhea, some pudding stools, some had kidney damage which the attending vets considered secondary, some had severe damage/destruction of stomach and or liver. Dehydration and wasting are the norm for each reported to me. The most noticeable common denominator is that they get severe mouth/GI tract sores/lesions which may bleed easily and profusely. In one post mortem the vet also checked the throat and found that full of lesions. TO DATE THERE HAVE BEEN VERY FEW CASES so it is ESSENTIAL that you hear about this question early in case you or your vet run into anything similar. It is also asked if histopathology was done on any of the GI tracts of the ferrets which died, and what was found, and if parvo was considered in the testing. If you have a case like this LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU ARE LOCATED. We are trying to track the spread of this (these?). Sukie [Posted in FML issue 2421]