http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21262121 BTW, in past year at least one location which used non-lethal ways of testing influenza vaccines in ferrets has afterward adopted them out to homes. >Comp Med. 2010;60(5):364-368. >A Nonlethal Young Domesticated Ferret (Mustela putorius furo) Model >for Studying Pandemic Influenza Virus A/California/04/2009 (H1N1). >Lednicky JA, Croutch CR, Lawrence SJ, Hamilton SB, Daniels DE, >Astroff B. > >Energy and Life Sciences, Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, >Missouri, USA. >Abstract >Recent events have heightened the need for the rapid development of >vaccines directed against pandemic influenza H1N1 viruses circulating >during 2009 to 2010. The current study was conducted to establish a >virus challenge dose for a subsequent CA/04 vaccine efficacy study in >3-mo-old domesticated ferrets. An additional consideration in using >CA/04 in ferrets is the selection of endpoints on which to base the >challenge dose, given the potential nonlethality of this particular >model. Four doses ranging from 10(4) to 10(7) TCID(50) units of CA/04 >per animal were administered by intranasal instillation to groups of >male and female ferrets, and virus titers in nasal washes obtained 1, >3, and 5 d thereafter were determined in MDCK cells. Dosed ferrets >developed clinically mild infections. Peak virus titers occurred on >day 3 after instillation regardless of dose. Virus-treated ferrets had >less weight gain than did untreated ferrets. In conclusion, 3-mo-old >ferrets can be infected with doses as low as 10(4) TCID(50) units of >CA/04, and virus titers in nasal washes and decreased body weight gain >can be used to assess the course of nonlethal infection of 3-mo-old >ferrets by CA/04. > >PMID: 21262121 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] 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 "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 6956]