Table 1.
Virus recovery from tissues of ferrets infected with the HK483 or HK486 H5N1 virus
| Virus strain | Day postinfection | Virus titer(s) in indicted organ(s) (mean log10 PFU/g ± SD)a |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal turbinates | Lungs | Trachea | Brain | Liver | Spleen | Othersb | ||
| HK483 | 1 | 3.5, 4.9 | 3.4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | 4.7 ± 0.6 | 1.0, 1.4 | 2.9 | — | — | 1.1 | — | |
| 4c | 5.0 | 5.2 | 3.6 | — | 1.9 | 2.8 | — | |
| 6 | — | — | — | — | 2.4 | — | — | |
| 12 | 2.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| HK486 | 1 | 3.8 ± 0.5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | 5.7 ± 3.0 | — | — | 1.5, 2.3 | — | — | — | |
| 5c | 6.7 | 3.0 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 6 | 2.2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
a
Six-month-old male ferrets (15 animals per group) were intranasally infected with virus (106 PFU/animal). Three ferrets from each group were euthanized 1, 3, 6, 12, and 30 days after inoculation, and virus in the organs was titrated by using plaque assays with MDCK cells. If viruses were not isolated from all three animals, the individual virus titers are given. —, virus was not isolated.
b
Kidney, heart, pancreas, and spinal cord.
c
Death with mucopurulent nasal discharge and dyspnea.