United States: A new study is warning that domestic cats might help spread bird flu (H5N1), a virus usually found in birds. Normally, people think of bird flu affecting chickens or wild birds, but now scientists say cats could become a problem.
The study, published on Dec. 9, says that cats could catch bird flu from sick birds and even spread it. This could make the virus more dangerous. Scientists are worried that if this happens, it could create a big health problem for both animals and humans.
As reported by the HealthDay, the virus emerged in Wisconsin this year in cattle and has proven fatal for many cats, especially those in farms that had infected herds. It has also diseased at least 60 people, nearly all of whom have had close contact with infected dairy cattle or poultry.
The H5N1 virus is really not highly contagious among humans to date; however, analytical research indicates such only one or two genetic modifications will enable it to move from human to another much easier.
Even though felines have not passed the H5N1 virus to people, scientists continue to warn that such animals might be dangerous.
But if a cat were co-infected by H5N1 and a seasonal flu virus, the bird flu virus could develop the mutations required to move efficiently around the human population.
Due partly to the fact that cats are often in contact with both wild life and humans they may act as a vector through which the virus can mutate.
While the past months have seen authorities test cows and people for H5N1, no government agency is solely measuring the spread of other animals such as cats, as the New York Times found.
However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently threatened to begin conducting nation-wide milk tests to flush out implicated herds.
The cat study underlines the call for public health officers to intensify their search for bird flu in cats, Dr Suresh Kuchipudi, a veterinary microbiologist at the University of Pittsburgh and the author of the study told the Times.
“While working in the area of addressing the given problem, that is, in this case, dairy farms and the milk as a food safety problem and then the human surveillance we might be missing a much bigger story that is emerging,” Said Kuchipudi. It may already have been happening out in the open.
On the other hand, the Biden administration has said it has no short-term interest in approving human bird flu vaccine.