It is NOT known if ferrets can get this casually the last i read.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/message/10281
has some older info by a few days and some not below.

This one is a large update and some new:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/message/10331

The ferrets in whom testing is being done have had the disease imposed
upon them so it is not yet known if they can get this one casually.

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MUMA-7RL7Z5?OpenDocument

BEGIN QUOTE
In relation to the laboratory results; in the two first confirmed
cases in the United States, virus A/California/04/2009 and
A/California/05/2009 were isolated. They show a pattern of genetic
reassortment of a virus of swine influenza from the Americas with a
swine influenza virus from Eurasia. This particular genetic combination
had not been detected in the past. Both proved to be resistant to
amantadine and rimantadine, but sensitive to neuraminidase inhibitors,
oseltamivir and zanamivir. Both have been cultured in MDCK cells and
inoculated in ferrets for the production of antisera. The complete
genome of the virus A/California/04/2009 has been published and is
available in the database of the GISAID (www.gisaid.org). The viruses
of other confirmed cases in the United States correspond to the same
new strain.

END QUOTE

(also the many, many news reports -- my tip on that score is to listen
to ONLY the medical professionals' comments because in too many places
the writers for the talking heads have been going for sensation rather
than reliable data)

So, use the same precautions as always: wash hands whenever you have
been touching public things touched by many hands (especially before
touching ferrets and before touching your eyes, nose, mouth...), if
you get sick then cough or sneeze into your hand then wash, or use a
handkerchief and then wash.

(There have been some people postulating that the lack of childhood
vaccinations in Mexico may partly explain why so many have been lost
there compared to here where the only death has been a Mexican child
visiting over the border in Texas. Of course, the health care there
is lacking for too many, too, so alternative health care is used by a
large amount of the population and it does not seem to be up to this
challenge or might even in some cases contribute to the risk factors.)

In NYC which has the most cases in the U.S. and Canada it has been
behaving like a standard influenza in the infected people so far. So,
if you get fever, ache and pains, trouble breathing, etc -- standard
influenza symptoms -- take precautions and get the same professional
medical care that you would get for another influenza, but call your
physician first and describe because some are seeing such patients
through back doors to avoid risk of spreading it in a waiting room.
(There have been a few individuals in the U.S. and Canada who also had
intestinal symptoms but that appears to be very uncommon with this.)

(People are unsure now if it has caused cytokine storms and also unsure
if the influenza itself may be at the root of most of the deaths in
Mexico so it is best to just be safest and most careful. In the next
half week or so many more specimens will be tested to see if those
people had this influenza. In humans very few cases have been below the
age of 3 years or above the age of 59 years, so part of being sicker
still may be a stronger than needed immune system response.)

A study looking at a possible derivation relationship to the 1918
influenza:

http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/april09/swineflu43009.html

BEGIN QUOTE

Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza
that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza among the animals and can
be transmitted to humans. It is a typical zoonotic agent.
...

For the study, the researchers used the 1918 pandemic virus and a 1930
H1N1 influenza virus for experimental infections in swine. The 1930
virus was chosen as a virus because it is thought to be a descendent
of the 1918 virus, Richt said.

The researchers did not find a significant difference in effects from
the 1918 and 1930 viruses in infected pigs. This was surprising, since
the 1918 virus killed more than 20 million people and was lethal to
ferrets, mice and macaques. Another surprising finding from the study
was the rapid antibody response in the animals infected with the 1918
virus, which is not typically reported for the swine influenza virus.

END QUOTE

ON HOW TO USE SOCIAL SEPARATION TO STOP SPREAD:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/bc-sss043009.php

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genomes/FLU/SwineFlu.html

In

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

See and link to latest citations from

BEGIN QUOTE

NLM/NCBI Swine Flu Resources:
Newest swine influenza A (H1N1) sequences
Citations recently added to PubMed
MedlinePlus (consumer health information)
Enviro-Health Links

END QUOTE

and the rest may well interest a number of FHL Members.

ALL FHL members will find at least one of the links from the green box
next to that to be worthy reading for protecting ferrets and their
people.

Veterinary resources:
http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/swineflu.html#a5

Great info explaining it and telling what you
can do:

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/swineflu.html#a5

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/habits.htm

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

[Posted in FML 6319]