Result: Enhanced virulence of
D222G virus in mice by the intranasal but not intraocular route.
Result: Ferrets inoculated with the
D222G virus exhibited similar clinical signs as CA/04 wild-type virus and a reverse-genetics derived CA/04 virus, with ferrets exhibiting transient weight loss (mean maximum weight loss of 11.3% on day 6-7 p.i.) and fever (mean maximum fever 1.9 C over baseline day 2 p.i.) before returning to baseline levels.
Result: However, at 48 and 72 hrs p.i.,
D222G virus replicated to significantly higher titer than CA/04 virus in the human respiratory cells (p<0.0005).