An aggregated dataset of day 3 post-inoculation viral titer measurements from influenza A virus-infected ferret tissues
Use escrito dataset cdc.d9u6-mdu6
Data from influenza A virus (IAV) infected ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) provides invaluable information towards the study of novel and emerging viruses that pose a threat to human health. This gold standard animal model can recapitulate many clinical signs of infection present in IAV-infected humans, supports virus replication of human and zoonotic strains without prior adaptation, and permits evaluation of virus transmissibility by multiple modes. While ferrets have been employed in risk assessment settings for >20 years, results from this work are typically reported in discrete stand-alone publications, making aggregation of raw data from this work over time nearly impossible. Here, we describe a dataset of 351 ferrets inoculated with 110 unique IAV, conducted by a single research group (NCIRD/ID/IPB/Pathogenesis Laboratory Team) under a uniform experimental protocol. This collection of ferret tissue viral titer data on a per-individual ferret level represents a companion dataset to ‘An aggregated dataset of serially collected influenza A virus morbidity and titer measurements from virus-infected ferrets’. However, care must be taken when combining datasets at the level of individual animals (see PMID 40245007 for guidance in best practices for comparing datasets comprised of serially-collected and fixed-timepoint in vivo-generated data). See publications using and describing data for more information: Kieran TJ, Sun X, Tumpey TM, Maines TR, Belser JA. 2025. Spatial variation of infectious virus load in aggregated day 3 post-inoculation respiratory tract tissues from influenza A virus-infected ferrets. mSphere 10:e00346-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00346-25. Kieran TJ, Sun X, Maines TR, Belser JA. 2025. Predictive models of influenza A virus lethal disease: insights from ferret respiratory tract and brain tissues. Scientific Reports, 15, 24342. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-09154-0. Bullock TA, Pappas C, Uyeki TM, Brock N, Kieran TJ, Olsen SJ, Davis CD, Tumpey TM, Maines TR, Belser JA. 2025. The (digestive) path less traveled: influenza A virus and the gastrointestinal tract. mBio mBio 16:e01017-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.01017-25. Kieran TJ, Sun X, Maines TR, Beauchemin CAA, Belser JA. 2024. Exploring associations between viral titer measurements and disease outcomes in ferrets inoculated with 125 contemporary influenza A viruses. J Virol98: e01661-23. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03256-6 Related dataset: Kieran TJ, Sun X, Creager HM, Tumpey TM, Maine TR, Belser JA. 2025. An aggregated dataset of serial morbidity and titer measurements from influenza A virus-infected ferrets. Sci Data, 11(1):510. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03256-6 https://data.cdc.gov/National-Center-for-Immunization-and-Respiratory-D/An-aggregated-dataset-of-serially-collected-influe/cr56-k9wj/about_data Other relevant publications for best practices on data handling and interpretation: Kieran TJ, Maines TR, Belser JA. 2025. Eleven quick tips to unlock the power of in vivo data science. PLoS Comput Biol, 21(4):e1012947. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012947 Kieran TJ, Maines TR, Belser JA. 2025. Data alchemy, from lab to insight: Transforming in vivo experiments into data science gold. PLoS Pathog, 20(8):e1012460. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012460 Change / Update Log: Mar 9, 2026: Added 3 viruses (A/Washington/239/2024, A/Colorado/137/2024, A/Puerto Rico/8/1934), n=18 new ferrets
Cite as: Influenza Division/Immunology and Pathogenesis Branch/Pathogenesis Laboratory Team. An aggregated dataset of day 3 post-inoculation viral titer measurements from influenza A virus-infected ferret tissues. https://data.cdc.gov/d/d9u6-mdu6
- Publisher
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Tier
- Official
- Covers
- not stated
- Places
- United States
- Updated
- irregular
- Last modified
- 2026-03-09
- Units
- not stated
- License
- U.S. Government Work (public domain)
- Method
- https://data.cdc.gov/d/d9u6-mdu6
Columns
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| lg | text | Numerical columns reporting Lung (Lg) tissue log10 titer/gram, in the units specified in ‘units’, collected from each ferret day 3 post-inoculation. NA, represents no tissue sample was collected. LOD, represents a tissue sample was collected but quantified at or below the limit of detection. Lung tissue represents sampling from all 5 ferret lobes, proximal to bronchi and/or sampled from locations with observed macroscopic pathology. |
| nt | number | Numerical columns reporting Nasal Turbinate (NT) tissue log10 titer/ml, in the units specified in ‘units’, collected from each ferret day 3 post-inoculation. Nasal Turbinate tissue was typically dislodged and removed using forceps via the nasal cavity (total weight of this specimen <100 mg). |
| inoc_dose | number | Numeric column that indicates the log10 infectious units used to intranasally inoculate the ferret (in a 1ml total volume, with virus diluted in PBS). |
| units | text | Binary column that indicates if log10 titers reported in NW columns are reported as EID50 (titration in eggs, EID, LOD = 1.5) or PFU (titration in cells, PFU, LOD = 1). EID and PFU units are not interchangeable; See PMID 38760422 for limitations in drawing comparisons between viral titers derived from different units. |
| origin | text | Categorical column indicating the host origin of the inoculating virus. Avian, isolated from avian host or originated from an avian species during a zoonotic spillover to humans; human, human origin; swine, swine origin; canine, canine origin; variant, human infection with swine-origin virus. |
| hpai_mbaa | checkbox | Binary column that indicates if the inoculating virus has been classified as a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus based on criteria of the intravenous pathogenicity index (TRUE) or is a low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) or non-avian virus (FALSE). |
| na | text | Categorical column indicating neuraminidase subtype of the inoculating virus. |
| hpai | checkbox | Binary column that indicates if the inoculating virus has been classified as a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus based on criteria of the intravenous pathogenicity index (TRUE) or is a low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) or non-avian virus (FALSE). |
| tr | text | Numerical columns reporting Trachea (Tr) tissue log10 titer/gram, in the units specified in ‘units’, collected from each ferret day 3 post-inoculation. NA, represents no tissue sample was collected. LOD, represents a tissue sample was collected but quantified at or below the limit of detection. Trachea tissue represents one piece collected midway between the larynx and lung. |
| ferret | text | Unique observational ID for each individual animal in the dataset. |
| virus | text | Unique identifier for each virus used to inoculate ferrets in the dataset. |
| ha | text | Categorical column indicating hemagglutinin subtype of the inoculating virus. |
| int | text | Numerical columns reporting Intestine (Int) tissue log10 titer/gram, in the units specified in ‘units’, collected from each ferret day 3 post-inoculation. NA, represents no tissue sample was collected. LOD, represents a tissue sample was collected but quantified at or below the limit of detection. Intestine tissue represents pooled sampling of the duodenum, jejunum/ileum, and descending colon. |
| bn | text | Numerical columns reporting Brain (Bn) tissue log10 titer/gram, in the units specified in ‘units’, collected from each ferret day 3 post-inoculation. NA, represents no tissue sample was collected. LOD, represents a tissue sample was collected but quantified at or below the limit of detection. Brain tissue represents caudal and/or rostral sections, and the reported titer is from either a pooled sample of both sections, or the highest of the two when titered separately. |
| bnob | text | Numerical columns reporting Brain Olfactory Bulb (BnOB) tissue log10 titer/gram, in the units specified in ‘units’, collected from each ferret day 3 post-inoculation. NA, represents no tissue sample was collected. LOD, represents a tissue sample was collected but quantified at or below the limit of detection. Brain Olfactory Bulb tissue represents sample dislodged from the calvarium after removal of the brain (Bn). |