From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-11-22 21:43:00 UTC
Subject: Re: virally induced lymphosarcoma
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., sukiecrandall@t... wrote:
> We are among those who have had a lympho clump.
>
> The hypothesis that there might ba viral trigger for some cases
> was investigated for a while at the Dept. of Comparative
> Medicine of MIT, but they didn't find a culprit. That doesn't
mean
> that such a silent viral contributor doesn't exist; it is just a
> reflection of how very difficult such studies are.
>
In the mid 90's, Sue Erdman published that lymphoma could be spread
by a cell-free inoculum between an animal with lymphoma and a normal
healthy one (actually 4/6 in this study developed. this is strong
evidence that a virus in involved, as the filtering system used would
also filter out bacteria.
There are a number of animal species that have viruses that can cause
lymphoma - with the most common culprits being retroviruses and
herpesviruses.
However, there was no success at isolating the virus, and when I most
recently talked with Sue about six months ago, she is no longer
investigating lymphoma in ferrets, so it is doubtful that fursther
work along these lines is forthcoming from MIT. (This is not
uncommon in the research world, as research is quite expensive, and
today, only funded experiments go forward.
Regarding the originl question about aspirating nodes - if the nodes
are indeed enlarged, then an aspirate is always a good idea.
Remember that fat often accumulates around the nodes of older
ferrets, causing them to appear enlarged. However, an aspirate is a
very safe, relatively painless procedure that can usually be done
without general anesthesia.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM