Replication activity of 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in human lung cells was evaluated in this study. Twenty-two surgically removed human lung tissue samples were infected ex vivo with pandemic H1N1, A/California/04/2009, seasonal human H1N1 virus, A/ST/92/2009, or a highly pathogenic H5N1 virus, A/Vietnam/1194/04. Examination of nucleoprotein (NP) protein expression and vRNA replication in infected human lung tissues showed that while CA/04 replication varied between tissue samples, overall, it replicated more efficiently than seasonal H1N1 but less efficiently than H5N1 virus. Double immunostaining for viral antigens and cellular markers indicated that CA/04 replicates in type II alveolar epithelial cells.