Twenty large cats, together with a half-Bengal tiger and 4 cougars, died between late November and mid-December at a sanctuary in Washington State after changing into contaminated with fowl flu, in response to the ability’s director.
“We’ve by no means had something prefer it; they often die mainly of outdated age,” stated Mark Mathews, the founder and director of the Wild Felid Advocacy Center in Shelton, Wash. “Not one thing like this, it’s a reasonably depraved virus.”
Three different cats had recovered from the virus, and one remained in important situation on Tuesday, he stated.
The sanctuary said in a statement on Friday that the ability was beneath quarantine and could be closed till additional discover whereas the habitats have been sanitized.
The virus started to current itself in November inside the cougar inhabitants, with a number of cats growing pneumonialike signs. Within days, different species started to point out indicators of sickness.
On Nov. 23, the primary cat, a cougar, died, and several other others started to turn into more and more unwell within the following days. An African serval was the final cat to die, on Dec. 13. Some of the cats shared a standard wall between their habitats, however didn’t straight work together.
