Intranasal Infection of Mice with H1N1 Virus v1

Objective: This SOP addresses the infection of adult mice with mouse-adapted influenza H1N1 A/FM/1/1947 strain influenza via the intranasal route Adult mice (as young as 3 weeks of age; typical age for our studies is 4-6 weeks) are inoculated on their nose pad with 2000 plaque forming units, PFUs of virus. Upon inhalation, the virus reaches alveolar space, leading to fulminant pneumonia associated with macrophage and neutrophil recruitment into the interstitium and alveolar sacs associated with cytokine release. At LD50, 50% of wild-type mice (CD1; black6 strains) succumb to the infection within 7-10 days. The other 50% recover. See dosing note for sex-differences observed in C57Bl/6J below.