Reuters: Texas bird flu strain kills ferrets used to mimic disease in humans, US CDC says

Texas bird flu strain kills ferrets used to mimic disease in humans, US CDC says

Nancy Lapid, June 7, 2024

June 7 (Reuters) – The bird flu virus strain that infected a Texas dairy farm worker in March was lethal to ferrets in experiments designed to mimic the disease in humans, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Friday.

Seasonal flu, by contrast, makes ferrets sick but does not kill them, the CDC said.

Ferrets are considered the best small mammal for studying influenza virus infection and transmission and are commonly used as a tool to inform public health risk assessments of emerging influenza viruses, according to the CDC.

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