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H5N1 virus isolated from infected dairy worker is 100% lethal in ferrets

The findings highlight the risks posed by a virus that continues to spread among dairy cattle and occasionally to farm workers, and the study's lead scientist says he was surprised by the ease with which this particular strain was able to kill ferrets.

Still, the findings highlight the risks posed by a virus that continues to spread among dairy cattle and occasionally to farm workers, and the study’s lead scientist says he was surprised by the ease with which this particular strain was able to kill ferrets. That’s how the current viruses, which have been infecting birds around the world in recent years, began to spread among mammals, most notably North American dairy cattle in 2024. Kawaoka and his collaborators found that the H5N1 virus that infected the Texas dairy worker included a mutation that the team first identified in 2001 as important for causing severe disease.

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