This write-up is partly about how ferrets showed that influenza is caused by a virus. It also goes into when people first documented that ferrets get influenza and more. It is short, clearly written, and I think you will enjoy learning from it. http://blog.oup.com/2009/10/flu_history/ The description is a short summary of part of _Viruses, Plagues, and History: Past, Present, and Future_ by Michael B. A. Oldstone who is a Professor at the Scripps Research Institute, and directs a laboratory for viral immunobiology. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html [Posted in FML 6491]