Chicken flu isn’t simply affecting chickens and cows; it’s hitting pet cats.
An estimated 11.6 million households in California personal 23.3 million cats. A rising variety of these and an unknowable inhabitants of free-roaming “community cats” have been contracting avian flu, or H5N1.
In accordance with the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA), 19 out of 39 — almost half — of non-livestock mammals in California contaminated over the course of the continuing H5N1 outbreak have been home cats. The vast majority of these cats, together with a stray taken in by a Half Moon Bay household and confirmed with H5N1 an infection final month, have died or been euthanized.
With kitten season across the nook, this information group herded collectively cat consultants for recommendation on cut back the unfold of chicken flu amongst felines and the species that work together with them.
Q: Can cats unfold H5N1 to folks?
A: A written assertion by the California Division of Public Well being (CDPH) mentioned there have been no studies of people contracting chicken flu from cats. However animal-to-human transmission of the virus has already been going down. California leads the nation in human H5N1 infections, largely from contaminated dairy cows. Dr. Jane E. Sykes, a specialist in infectious ailments in canine and cats on the UC Davis College of Veterinary Drugs, mentioned, “If the virus was to change in the future, as it’s shown it can do, then it could have more serious implications for humans in terms of pandemic development.”
Q: Why are cats so vulnerable to the virus?
A: Susceptibility pertains to the density and site of particular viral cell receptors within the respiratory tracts and different organ programs of cats, Sykes mentioned, and underlying traits of their immune programs.
Q: What about chicken flu threat in canine, and canine near cats?
A: For now, only a few home canine have been reported with chicken flu infections. Sykes mentioned that that is most likely as a result of they’re much less vulnerable to H5N1. This doesn’t imply that they’re immune.
Q: Ought to cat house owners fear but?
A: In accordance with CDPH, “Human interaction with domestic cats is more intimate and ongoing than with livestock and poultry species.” This closeness exponentially will increase the potential for cat-to-human and ultimately human-to-human contagion, and scientists say that testing capabilities and mRNA human vaccine analysis should not ready for this.
Q: How are cats getting chicken flu?
A: The vast majority of domesticated cats contaminated throughout this outbreak consumed uncooked milk or commercially marketed uncooked meals merchandise. The reason for an infection within the Half Moon Bay stray was by no means decided, elevating concern over feral (wild) and stray (misplaced, deserted) neighborhood cats. These animals have a larger probability of publicity to different contaminated cats, wild birds or black rats, which joined the checklist of H5N1-affected animals in California initially of this 12 months.
Q: What’s the incubation interval for chicken flu in cats?
A: Scientific indicators often seem in contaminated cats after just a few days to every week, based on Sykes.
Q: Can cats unfold chicken flu whereas asymptomatic?
A: “There is no evidence that healthy cats can be infected with H5N1 and spread the virus without showing symptoms,” based on CDPH. However Sykes mentioned that there are too many unknowns to make certain. “We don’t know how many cats are getting exposed and recovering without showing signs of illness. We still don’t have big studies available to understand what proportion of cats are, for example, fed raw food diets, and have antibodies to the virus,” she cautioned.
Q: Is there a vaccine for chicken flu but?
A: On Feb. 14, the Zoetis pharmaceutical firm introduced conditional approval from the USDA for a vaccine presently restricted to poultry.
Q: How can I forestall my pet from getting chicken flu?
A: Scientists, veterinarians, public well being officers and animal lovers are all urging cat house owners to maintain their pet cats indoors always if doable. “It’s just much safer and healthier for them overall,” mentioned Dr. Katherine Mills, medical director of the Pals of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS). Mills additionally really useful not feeding cats uncooked milk or uncooked meals, even when the merchandise are commercially packaged, frozen or freeze-dried.
Q: How do I do know if my cat has avian influenza?
A: They could current higher respiratory signs, like sneezing, coughing or congestion and issue respiration, or runny discharge from the eyes, nostril and mouth, plus lethargy and lack of urge for food. Mills mentioned to look out for neurological indicators, corresponding to “just mentally not seeming alert, maybe stumbling when they’re walking.” In the end, solely testing can verify what’s ailing an animal, so you will need to convey sick cats to the vet.
Q: Do I have to put on private protecting tools (PPE) to deal with a sick cat?
A: Mills mentioned “it would never be wrong to wear gloves plus or minus a mask to get the cat in its carrier and get to the vet.”
Q: Up till now, poultry have been “culled” — killed — if even one chicken has avian influenza. Will my pet cat or a stray I usher in be summarily euthanized within the curiosity of public well being?
A: There is no such thing as a protocol for the routine euthanizing of cats with H5N1 infections, however consultants say that supportive care has not often been in a position to assist cats with quickly progressing signs of chicken flu.
Q: Are free-roaming neighborhood cats a public threat?
A: The statewide Built-in Pest Administration Program (IPM) on the College of California Division of Agriculture and Pure Sources states that out of doors cats, comprising wherever from 18-49% of the U.S. cat inhabitants, are already one in every of the100 worst invasive species worldwide due to their environmental affect and intractability.
Q: If I discover a cat that seems wholesome, can I take it residence?
A: CDPH says to keep away from contact with unfamiliar animals no matter their obvious situation. Encounters must be reported to the California Division of Fish and Wildlife at (916) 358-2790, or the closest animal management division, shelter or humane society. Mills mentioned discovered cats can even have ringworm, fleas and a number of contagions aside from chicken flu.
Q: What are authorities doing concerning the rising threat of free-roaming cats as a chicken flu spreader?
A: CDPH has not issued H5N1-specific steering for managing stray cat populations. Counties proceed to handle neighborhood cats at their discretion, usually in cooperation with shelters and humane societies.
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