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Title
Histology and microscopy images from ex vivo bovine mammary explants infected with attenuated influenza A reassortant viruses

Overview
This dataset contains digital histology and microscopy images generated from ex vivo bovine mammary tissue explants following experimental infection with attenuated influenza A reassortant viruses. The images were produced to assess tissue morphology, epithelial integrity, viral antigen distribution, and receptor-associated lectin binding patterns in bovine mammary tissues.

What the data are
The dataset comprises image files derived from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) bovine mammary explants and stained tissue sections. Depending on the file, images may include:

1. Haematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained sections used to assess general tissue morphology and epithelial integrity.
2. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) images detecting influenza A virus nucleoprotein (NP) in infected tissue sections.
3. Fluorescence lectin staining images used to assess tissue binding patterns, including MAL-I and SNA staining, with additional phalloidin and Hoechst staining.

The biological material consists of mammary explants collected from six commercially slaughtered female cattle that were free from mastitis and antibiotic treatment. Explants were prepared from mammary tissue and experimentally infected ex vivo with attenuated reassortant influenza viruses carrying the HA and NA genes of viruses of interest and the six internal gene segments of the laboratory-adapted PR8 strain. For H5N1-derived reassortants, the HA polybasic cleavage site was removed.

Image acquisition
Whole-slide or brightfield pathology images were digitised using a Zeiss Axioscan 7 with a Plan-Apochromat 40×/0.8 objective.
Fluorescence images were captured using a Zeiss LSM 710 microscope with Airyscan at 63× magnification.
Image processing was performed in Zeiss ZEN software (v3.10). Exposure, gain, brightness, and contrast were kept uniform within each tissue type.

Citation
Please cite the associated publication and the repository record when reusing these data.

Contact
For questions about the dataset, please contact the corresponding author or depositor listed in the repository record.