Ferrets used to track the pathogenesis of flu should be monitored by video, influenza researchers from Melbourne say.

The method eliminates the limitations of manual scoring, where a ‘blind’ observer needs to recognise the normal behaviour of ferrets, the researchers led by Ding Yuan Oh from the WHO collaborating centre for Reference and Research on influenza wrote in PLOS One. 

In ferrets infected with H1N1 virus video-tracking was more sensitive than manual scoring in detecting activity changes, they said.

It was also more sensitive in highlighting the positive effects of oseltamivir, they added.