Bordetella pertussis produces tracheal cytotoxin, which stops the cilia from beating. This prevents the cilia from clearing debris from the lungs, so the body responds by sending the host into a coughing fit. These coughs expel some bacteria into the air, which are free to infect other hosts. "B. pertussis" has the ability to inhibit the function of the host's immune system. The toxin, known as pertussis toxin (or PTx), inhibits G protein coupling that regulates an adenylate cyclase-mediated conversion of ATP to cyclic AMP. The end result is phagocytes convert too much ATP to cyclic AMP, which can cause disturbances in
Aleutian disease from other ferrets. All items that may have come into contact with the infected ferret should be cleaned with a 10% bleach solution. This is a growing concern within mink producers as it is the most crucial infectious disease which affects farmed mink worldwide. Aleutian disease Aleutian disease, also known as mink plasmacytosis, is a disease which causes spontaneous abortion and death in minks and ferrets. It is caused by "Carnivore amdoparvovirus 1" (also known as "Aleution disease virus", ADV), a highly contagious parvovirus in the genus "Amdoparvovirus". The virus has been found as a natural infection in the "Mustelidae"