Recently, there have been more reports of cats dying from H5N1 bird flu after eating contaminated pet food or otherwise exposed to the virus. Indeed, just last week, health authorities in New York City confirmed the deaths of 2 domestic cats from H5N1 after eating raw poultry products. The USDA currently lists over 100 confirmed […]
Recently, a number of domestic cats have died from H5N1, some after consuming raw milk and others after consuming raw pet food positive with the virus. We saw this in early December when the LA health department reported two cats had died after consuming raw milk, with H5N1 subsequently confirmed as the cause. Several days
Two indoor cats in Las Angeles County are reported to have died from H5N1 after consuming raw milk. The cats first suffered symptoms including “lack of appetite, fever and neurologic signs,” but after “severe worsening of their illness” both cats died. Testing came back positive for Influenza A, and the local public health department considers
“Interestingly, whereas in older studies A(H5) viruses . . . were never transmitted via the air between ferrets, low levels of transmission have lately been observed for recently emerged clade 2.3.4.4b A(H5) viruses isolated from a European polecat, mink and dairy cows. These observations raise concerns regarding the evolution of an A(H5N1) towards mammalian, and
An outbreak of bird flu in October 2022 spread rapidly through a mink farm in the Galicia region of Spain. This received massive media coverage, as it renewed concerns that the virus could adapt to humans. But this outbreak was part of the much larger, unprecedented, currently ongoing H5N1 panzootic that has caused massive losses in
The H5N1 strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, what we typically refer to as bird flu, has infected an unprecedented number of wild birds and mammals around the world. This global pandemic in animals, a “panzootic,” is unprecedented because never before have so many different species been infected with this virus. On another note, I have
Here we are eight months after the first detections of avian flu was made in U.S. dairy cattle. This blindsided the agricultural sector and the scientific community, and it is far from over. There is so much we still don’t know about how and why this strain of bird flu spilled over into dairy cattle,
In early Summer 2023, there were reports of mysterious cat deaths in Poland. People reported pets with severe respiratory disease and neurologic symptoms, with death coming fast. Tests confirmed the cats were infected with avian flu, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b. Many of the sick cats were indoor cats with no outside exposure. The viruses from the
