From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2008-04-30 17:03:42 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Coccidiosis and gastritis in Ethiopia -- need advice
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
It's true that coccidia can be very hard to spot. It's also true that if the eggs
have not been found then it might or might not be coccidia causing the
problem.
A word about coccidia: Coccidiosis is NOT caused by just one organism. There
are two genera and multiple species within those genera which cause it, so
when checking fecal samples during a diarrhea outbreak be sure to have daily
fecal checks for a number of days.
Some of the types of causes are much more serious than others. The Eimeria
outbreak for a few years in the U.S. caused a number of deaths but it was not
the worst coccidia for death rate among infected ferrets that has been seen.
About 10 years ago there was one that was able to be stopped in its tracks
through the use of two measures: STRICT isolation where the initial groups of
infected animals went (It all tracked back to one small location.) and treatment.
In that strain the treatment -- given to every single ferret in the affected
groups -- really didn't seem to help more than a handful of the infected animals
BUT it spared the others from that highly fatal strain. I guess that was something
like 10 to 12 years ago and will be in the Ferret Mailing List Archives:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
Offhand, I can't recall how long the isolation was, but I think a few months, and
the combo worked to stop that strain from spreading to others.
Sadly, when the Eimiria coccidial outbreak began too many of the places with
it in the very beginning usually did not try isolation so that one spread. If I
recall right it first showed up in the Southeast but I can't recall where and it
doesn't matter now. All that matters is remembering that if a *particularly
nasty* strain of coccidia is present THEN isolation is another tool for protecting
ferrets, along with treating all. When coccidia is present in a location it is
important to treat all species and all individuals who may have it or be carrying
it. Coccidia is quite species specific but it helps to check to see if a given species
has been found in others:
http://biology.unm.edu/biology/coccidia/carniv2.html
which is
Coccidia (Eimeria and Isospora) of Carnivores II
(Herpestidae, Hyaenidae, Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Ursidae, Viverridae)
Compiled by
Donald W. Duszynski and Lee Couch
Department of Biology, University of New Mexico
and
Steve J. Upton
Division of Biology, Kansas State University
and has 15 pages of very useful info on who gets what.
Of course, it can be worse in a compromised animal, too.
Nasty strains require longer treatment of all animals than easier strains do.
Ferrets are a novel animal in Ethiopia so it is also unknown which diseases
there that don't exist here may be ones that might strongly affect ferrets. So,
while treatment is being given for coccidia it is important to know if the
specimens have been examined under a microscope (as basic a piece of
equipment as a stethoscope for vet clinics) and if coccidia was found.
Coccidia can damage tissues and certainly animals can be infected AGAIN
later. Most coccidia do not stay dormant, but some types (and Toxoplasmosis
is one according to a past Dr. Bruce Williams post) can be in other tissues
such as muscle. He notes in another post:
BEGIN QUOTE
Remember that the oocyst (infective egg) stage of the coccidia (yes
they ARE protozoa) can live outside the body for quite a while, and
resists drying. They can get in cracks and crevices of cages, etc.
and bide their time until ingested by a naive ferret, and the cycle
starts over again. This is more likely than coccidia living on in
the intestine of a treated ferret.
And, most coccidia outbreaks have more than one affected animal...
END QUOTE
The FHL Archives are incredibly easy to use and contain a LOT of information
about a wide range of medical problems, including coccidia. Just be sure to
go to the right address instead of searching on the FHL website only. The
address for the FHL Archives is
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
and here are some useful past posts on coccidia (only a few of many useful ones):
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG590
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG550
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG17961
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG1917
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG10863
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG7872
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG747
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG616
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG5668
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YPG507
and more but these are great places to start and have complimentary
information to add up to a highly useful combination for anywhere in
the world.
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