"Yes. Tell him the H and E's on those ferrets show only mild ovarian inflammation. The testicles are definitely inflamed ... a low grade thing with a lot of lymphocytes. There is swelling and some degeneration of the sperm cells but it doesn't seem to affect the hormone secreting elements."
"What about other organs?"
"Aside from nasal and bronchial inflammation, essentially negative."
"Have you any suggestions?"
"It's too early to come to any conclusions but I'd like to follow up on this. How about taking biopsies on the male ferrets rather than sacrificing them. Then maybe we can see what is happening, I mean what the progression of the disease is, in the same animal. You could snip out a piece of ovary on some females too!"
"It isn't easy but we can do it."
"How about the other animals?"
"Some of the mice look a bit sick this morning, but the monkeys are still healthy."
"Well, if you can get the biopsies to us soon, we should have a good idea, late tonight or tomorrow morning, of what's going on. Say, I just had a thought! Didn't George inoculate some ferrets when the epidemic first broke out?"
"I wasn't here but I believe he did. Why don't you ask Harry? He was working with the Chief when I was away. All those animals are in the other section anyway."