In parallel studies, female DBA/2J mice were infected with either influenza B/Victoria/504/2000 or influenza B/Brisbane/60/2008 representing distinct lineages.
The differential pathogenicity of influenza virus in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J has been fully demonstrated through immunohistochemical staining, histopathological analyses, and viral replication assessment.
In naive DBA/2J mice, two doses of the QIV elicited hemagglutination inhibition (HI) responses with HI titers of ≥40 and effectively protected against lethal challenge with prototypical pandemic H1N1 influenza A and influenza B virus strains.<b>IMPORTANCE</b> Seasonal influenza viruses infect 1 billion people worldwide and are associated with ∼500,000 deaths annually.
To model host factors in the context of influenza virus infection, we determined the lethal dose of a highly pathogenic H5N1 virus (A/Hong Kong/213/03) in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice and identified genetic elements associated with survival after infection.