http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?gid=1423922
&messageid=6009&startid=6013
 
Author wrote:
>Is anyone familiar with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)?  Can it
>actually be transmitted from humans to ferrets?  If so, what would
>the symptomolgy be in the ferret?
 
Ferrets are susceptible to infection with RSV and have been an
experimental model for years.  However, only infant ferrets support a
lung infection, with adult ferrets only showing growth of the virus in
the lining of the nose.
 
Symptomatology would be pneumonia in very young ferrets, with infection
in adults being most likely subclinical with the odd case showing a runny
nose or a sneeze - the worst you would see in an adult ferret is likely a
couple of days of a flu-like illness.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 4265]