A cloned black-footed ferret named Antonia gave birth to two healthy kits at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute's campus in the town of Front Royal in Warren County.

Future work using the play-based ferret model will focus on defining the specific behaviors that contribute to the successful spread of flu virus from an infected ferret to a recipient animal.

BFF's (not "best friends forever" in this case) were actually once considered extinct, but the zoo has welcomed no less than 28 baby ferrets, known as kits, already this season.

"New Ferret Model May Measure Pandemic Potential Of H5N1 Influenza Viruses In Humans." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 July 2007. <www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2007 / 07 / 070716191800.htm>.