From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-02-07 23:37:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Coccidia
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Sirron" <sirron@e...> wrote:
> Can Coccidia stay dormant in a ferret for a long period of time,
and come back to life at a later time?
>
> Sirron@e...
Dear Ron:
No, that's really not how it works with the coccidia that cause
gastrointestinal disease. These coccidia are adapted to complete
their life cycle in the intestine in a period of days - they don't
have extra-intestinal forms which could persist for a long time
without finishing their life cycle.
The are some coccidia, though that do live in ferret tissues for a
very long time, such as toxoplasmosis, but they never complete their
life cycle in the ferret. The are ingested, migrate through the
tissues of the body, usually hole up in cysts in the brain, and
remain there until the animal is eaten by another predator, at which
time they can infect the predator. However, it is only if that
predator is a cat that these organisms will ever complete their life
cycle and be passed in the feces as infective eggs.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM