What Ferrets Can Teach Us about Flu Spread

Increasing ventilation in childcare settings may not always be effective at preventing flu virus spread, according to a new study published by a team of researchers at Emory, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Virginia Tech. The spread of flu viruses is commonly studied in animal models that don’t mimic real-life scenarios of the human experience, making it difficult to evaluate strategies that will be effective in common settings where diseases spread rapidly, such as childcare sites.

As reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the team created a play-based model using ferrets to study the spread of flu in a setting that closely mimics a childcare center. In their scenario, one infected ferret interacted with four uninfected animals for a few hours within a playpen area that included toys and other surfaces. “Ferrets are great models for kids because they are playful animals and exhibit many behaviors seen with children in real life, such as close-contact interactions and playing with toys,” says Seema Lakdawala, corresponding author and associate professor at Emory School of Medicine. “They also exhibit key symptoms of influenza that are seen in infected humans.”

Testing high and low ventilation conditions, the researchers examined how many ferrets got sick and the levels of virus in the air and on surfaces. They found that approximately the same number of animals got sick in both ventilation conditions. Although the team did observe slightly less virus in the air with higher ventilation, they measured similar amounts of virus on objects within the playpen.

See more on Seema Lakdawala and other Emory researchers here.