Affected Animals:
Ferrets.

Overview:

There are not many infectious causes of gastrointestinal disease in pet ferrets. However, epizootic catarrhal enteritis, or ECE, has become common in certain areas of the United States since 1993. Because ECE has appeared so recently, very little information has been published about the illness, which is sometimes called "green slime disease" due to the green-colored diarrhea that infected animals often produce.

A highly infective disease, ECE spreads rapidly among a group of ferrets. Frequently, infection occurs when a new ferret carrying the disease is introduced into a group of ferrets. While the new ferret will appear healthy, within three days to two weeks the other ferrets in the group will become sick. Typically, the new ferret will have come from a pet store or a shelter where there is a high exposure to ferrets that may carry the infection.

The agent that causes ferret ECE, probably a virus, appears to be stable in the environment. Inadvertently, owners can carry this disease on their clothing or hands and bring it home to infect their pets. It is more common for older ferrets, those over the age of one year, to become ill from this condition; younger ferrets tend to be asymptomatic carriers.

Clinical Signs:
Clinical signs include anorexia, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, and melena. The diarrhea can have a green color, a watery consistency, and be mucus-filled, birdseed-like, bloody, and even gritty. Severe dehydration can occur. There is no truly pathognomonic sign noted with this disease. Secondary ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract, presumably Helicobacter, are seen in some ferrets with this disease. Ferrets with ulcers may paw at their mouth or even gag. On physical exam, ulcers can be seen on the hard palate.

Symptoms:
Although this disease is known to ferret owners as "green diarrhea disease," diarrhea that is green is not specific to ECE since other diseases can have green colored diarrhea. Some ferrets will vomit, have diarrhea, and/or stop eating. Not every ferret will exhibit all signs of this disease.

Description: ECE is a gastrointestinal disease that attacks the intestines and, in moderate to severe cases, the liver. As a result, sickliness, vomiting, and diarrhea can occur. Because the diarrhea often is green, ECE has the nickname of the "green slime disease."

The illness usually runs a course of only one week, but during that time, due to the loss of fluids from vomiting and diarrhea, ferrets can become severely debilitated if they are not given medical support. Although ferrets rarely die from this disease, without fluid supplementation, the disease can be fatal.

Diagnosis:

As of yet, there are no specific tests that conclusively diagnose whether ECE is present. Often, a ferret will be diagnosed as having the disease because of the circumstances surrounding the illness, the lack of other problems that might cause ECE symptoms, and the ferret's response to the supportive care treatment it receives.

Blood tests can help the veterinarian to rule out other diseases; when severe ECE is present, certain changes can be noted in the test results, such as evidence of dehydration or anemia. Blood tests also will reveal abnormalities in liver enzymes that would indicate liver damage, which can occur with moderate to severe cases of ECE.

Usually, abdominal x-rays will show that food is not moving through the ferret's intestinal tract properly. On rare occasions, a biopsy of the intestines will be performed so that a pathologist can observe specific tissue changes indicative of ECE.

Prognosis:
In most cases, the prognosis is very good for ferrets with ECE. The disease usually lasts from five to seven days. Some ferrets can remain ill with abnormal appearing stools for extensive periods lasting up to one month. In severe or prolonged cases of disease, clinical signs can linger for six months or more. Occasionally, a ferret will appear to have recovered fully, only to show signs of ECE weeks to months later.

Transmission or Cause:
Presently, the cause of ECE is unknown. However, it is suspected that some type of virus, such as a coronavirus, leads to the disease.

Treatment:

Since the specific cause of ECE is unknown, treatment is directed toward supportive care of the affected ferret, such as keeping it hydrated and nourished. The animal should be given fluids and nutrition. By administering antibiotics, secondary bacterial infections can be prevented. If the ferret's illness is not severe, the doctor may attempt oral rehydration with water or solutions such as Gatorade or Pedialyte. The more severe the disease, though, the more important it is to give fluids subcutaneously or intravenously.

Nutritional support is extremely important in the treatment of this disease. Owners should encourage the animal to eat foods it usually prefers. If the ferret is very ill, the veterinarian will feed it calorie-rich food. Also, the examining veterinarian may prescribe antibiotics to eliminate bacterial infections occurring secondarily to ECE. Sometimes, anti-inflammatory medication is given to ferrets with ECE to decrease the amount of intestinal inflammation associated with this condition. In addition, some veterinarians will administer soothing agents to coat and protect the gastrointestinal tract.

If it is confirmed in the future that ECE is due to a virus, it is most likely that procedures for treating the disease will remain the same. It is unlikely that any medication will treat specifically a virus suspected of causing ECE.

Prevention:

If possible, isolate the affected ferret before other ferrets become exposed. It is unknown how long the disease remains infective. Thus, owners should keep new ferrets separated from other ferrets within the household for up to six months.

Since people can spread this disease by contacting an infected animal and then touching a ferret that is susceptible to ECE, humans should resist petting and touching ferrets they encounter. To prevent the spread of infection, it may be advisable for ferret owners to change clothing and wash their hands thoroughly before touching another ferret. Since carriers rarely show signs of this disease, a ferret does not have to appear sick to be harboring this infectious illness.