What is ECE?
In early 1994 or so, a mysterious disease cropped up among ferrets and spread quickly, particularly in the show circuit. It was originally called “the greenies,” but its official name is “epizootic catarrhal enteritis (of ferrets)”. (“Epizootic” refers to a disease which is epidemic in animals, “catarrhal” means it’s an inflammation of a mucous membrane, and “enteritis” means it affects the intestine.) It is characterized by the sudden onset of bright green or yellowish diarrhea. (Note, however, that the green color just means that the food spent a very short time in the ferret’s digestive tract. Ferrets do get diarrhea for other reasons, and a single day of soft greenish stool is not something to panic about.) No specific cause has been positively identified; it might not even be a virus, although that looks highly likely right now. Uncomplicated ECE in a young, healthy ferret generally lasts 7-10 days, but in about 20% of cases, there is an extended illness due to an overaggressive i
