Nine ferrets were allocated randomly for each virus, and baseline body weights and body temperature were measured before inoculation. One ferret was inoculated with sterile PBS as Triacetyl Resveratrol mock control. Two infected ferrets were each euthanized at 3, 5, and 7 dpi and tissue specimens (lung, trachea, nasal turbinate, spleen, kidney, liver, heart, intestine, and brain) were collected for measuring viral titers. Five lobes of lung were collected and pulled for viral titration and right lung (cranial, medial and caudal lobe) was used for histopathology (Vidana et al., 2014). Ferrets were monitored two times a day (9:00am and 18:00pm) for clinical signs, body weights, and body temperature for 14 days. Activity and clinical scores were estimated as described previously (Reuman et al., 1989). Body temperature was measured rectally with digital thermometer. Nasal washes were collected every other day for 9 dpi to check for viral shedding. To collect nasal wash samples, ferrets were sedated with cocktail of ketamine (24 mg/kg), xylazine (2 mg/kg), and atropine (0.05 mg/kg), and 1 ml of sterile PBS containing 1% bovine serum albumin and penicillin (100 U/ml), streptomycin (100 μg/ml) and gentamicin (50 μg/ml) was injected into each nostril and collected in a petri dish when expelled by the ferret (Fang et al., 2010).
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