Ferret

While the ferret was recognized in the early 20th century as having useful applications for medicine, it has only been since the late 1960's that this animal has become an important animal model for medical research.

Ferrets were used in early studies of the influenza virus, and are still used today in research on influenza and other viral diseases. Influenza infection in ferrets closely resembles infection in humans with regard to symptoms, viral distribution and immunity.

Ferrets are also used to study all aspects of canine distemper, a serious and fatal disease of dogs and many forms of wildlife. In behavioral research, ferrets are ideally suited to certain studies regarding learned behaviors.

Because ferrets are a domesticated species whose estrous cycle in the female is easily monitored, they have become an important animal model for reproduction research, particularly in the area of neuroendocrinology.

In particular, they have been useful in delineating environmental factors which influence seasonal reproductive activity, the physiological factors which control puberty, behavioral induction of ovulation and the control of sexual differentiation in the brain.

Ferrets are used in toxicology research. Because of the similarity of many anatomic, metabolic and physiologic features to those of humans, use of the ferret is also being promoted as an alternative to the use of dogs and non-human primates in toxicology studies.