Some strains of flu are most definitely transferrable to ferrets.
Most of the time it will take a couple of weeks of intensive care
to get a ferret through it, but if you have older ferrets, or ferrets
compromised by other health issues, then contracting a nasty strain
of the flu could be enough to push them to death's door.

3 years ago the flu hit my home hard. All 6 ferrets that I had at the
time got it. It took a couple of weeks of children's Triaminic and
round-the-clock water vaporizers to get them through it, not to mention
much hand-feeding of soup. When a ferret's nose is blocked and it can't
breath well, it also doesn't want to eat or drink, which only compounds
the problem.

I did end up losing an older girl during that flu outbreak who had
insulinoma and adrenal disease. She had been doing well for a long
time with both diseases and regular meds, but when the flu hit, her
respiratory system went into extreme distress, and I had to put her
to sleep. It was a very, very hard lesson to learn. So, please, do
everything you can to keep your ferrets secluded from the flu virus.
Wash your hands constantly and even wear a surgeon's mask when around
them if you have the flu.

Jeff
In Loving Memory of Neo, Trinity, Morphy, Baby Girl, Dozer, Possum,
Pip, Pop, Sabrina, Minnie Mouse, Hunny, Misty, Frodo, Baggins, and
Mr. Parker
Caring for Luna, Boomer, and Zoomer

[Posted in FML 7570]