Ferrets used to study human flu

Ferrets catch the flu and exhibit similar symptoms to us so they are used in research to make flu vaccines and to better understand why this disease is so good at making us ill. Here Professor Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London explains their role in her research. The ferrets we see are used to train scientists in how to handle the animals. We could not film the research ferrets because we might have given them a cold!

Read more about Ferrets and Flu on our sister website, Animal Research Information: the general role of ferrets in research is discussed here: http://www.animalresearch.info/en/designing-research/research-animals/ferret/

and more information about the influenza virus can be read here: http://www.animalresearch.info/en/medical-advances/diseases-research/influenza/ while the latest advances are recorded here: http://www.animalresearch.info/en/medical-advances/research-the-news/influenza/.