Abstract
Introduction: We all know that the influenza A virus mutates very rapidly and is a public health threat because of its zoonotic potential as well. The aim of this secondary data analysis study was to define the variability in disease outcomes following ferrets inoculated with different IAV strains and compare the effects of viral strain and inoculation dose on clinical and virological measures.
Methods: A longitudinal observational study using data from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease. The secondary data analysis was performed on 728 ferrets who were exposed under controlled experimental conditions to one of 126 different strains of the Influenza A virus. The dataset included time measurements of weight loss, temperature changes, and viral load. Correlation analyses, t-tests, ANOVA, and ARIMA models were used to assess the effect of strain and dose on disease severity and progression.
Results: Statistically significant differences in disease severity related to the inoculation dose and the specific Influenza A virus strain were observed. Higher doses were associated with more severe outcomes and variability among strains affected both the magnitude and timing of peak viral loads. A predictive model suggested relatively dynamic behavior in viral load that might inform transmissibility and the timing of peak transmissibility.
Conclusions: Influenza A virus pathogenesis is influenced by viri genetic factors and inoculation dose in ferrets. Thus, the results provide valuable insights into the behavior of the Influenza A virus in a well-controlled setting providing important information to improve predictive models for outbreak dynamics and estimates of vaccine efficacy.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Arun Kumar Chaudhary, Murari Karki, Bidur Nepal (Author)