Experts consider three extra cats in Los Angeles County have been contaminated with H5N1 fowl flu. Two others succumbed to the illness earlier this month after drinking recalled raw milk from Fresno-based Raw Farm LLC dairies.
Of the three new sick cats, two died and one examined constructive for influenza A, an uncommon discovering in home cats that haven’t been uncovered to contaminated birds or contaminated dairy merchandise. The two that died couldn’t be examined whereas they have been alive, however consultants consider it’s seemingly their deaths have been on account of the H5N1 virus.
The three cats all lived in the identical family.
Influenza A viruses embody most seasonal human flu viruses, in addition to H5N1. Health officers should not but positive the place the cats acquired H5N1 — though they famous in a press release they’re investigating uncooked meat as a supply and have been awaiting check outcomes.
“The threat of H5 fowl flu stays low in Los Angeles County, however these confirmed instances of the virus in pet cats are a reminder that consuming uncooked dairy and meat merchandise can result in extreme sickness in cats,” stated Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in a press release.
She urged county residents “to keep away from uncooked dairy and undercooked meat merchandise, restrict contact with sick or lifeless animals, report sick or lifeless birds and hold pets or poultry away from wild animals and birds.”
The three newest cats all exhibited respiratory sickness, and don’t have any identified publicity to uncooked milk; investigators are trying into whether or not the animals ate uncooked meat.
The cats lived completely indoors, in response to well being officers.
People who had direct contact with the cats are being monitored for signs and have been supplied antiviral drugs. There have been instances of cat-to-human transmission of bird flu, in response to researchers.
It is unclear what number of cats have died since H5N1 started circulating in dairy cows earlier this 12 months. They are extraordinarily vulnerable to the virus, nonetheless, and lifeless barn cats are thought-about an early organic warning {that a} dairy has been affected by the virus.
At one Texas dairy farm this spring, 12 barn cats died after consuming contaminated uncooked milk. Sykes additionally famous a 2023 outbreak in South Korea, in which shelter cats ate pet meals made with H5N1-infected uncooked duck. In one shelter, 38 of 40 cats died after consuming the contaminated meals.
Last 12 months, the World Health Organization reported sporadic deaths of cats all through areas the place H5N1 fowl flu was circulating, together with at one location in Poland, the place a cluster of 46 died; 29 of these animals have been discovered to be constructive for the fowl flu virus.
Larger cats, together with captive lions, tigers and panthers, have also died on account of consuming meat contaminated with fowl flu. So, too, have wild California bobcats and mountain lions.
Symptoms of H5N1 an infection in cats embody labored respiration, bloody diarrhea and neurological abnormalities — lack of motor management, seizures, depressed psychological state, stiff physique actions, blindness, circling, copious eye and nostril discharge and coma — with speedy deterioration and loss of life in some instances.
