The Bird Flu Has Pet Owners Worried

What threat does H5N1 avian influenza pose to pets?

Cats are getting – and dying of – avian flu, and raw milk, raw meat and dead birds may all be sources of infection, Science News reported. That’s sparking worries about the risk that the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza poses for these felines and their owners. When bird flu viruses infect mammals, the viruses can undergo mutations that help them replicate better in mammalian cells. That raises the possibility that the avian influenza could adapt to spread easily in people. There’s no sign the virus has developed the type of changes needed to transmit easily from person to person yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most people who have gotten infected so far have had close contact with poultry or cattle, Science News noted.

As of mid-June, three people had tested positive for H5N1 avian flu in the United States, the second case to be detected in Michigan, according to the CDC. The newest case didn’t seem to indicate human-to-human transmission of the highly pathogenic flu, as it was detected on a different farm from the previous Michigan case, The Guardian reported. That said, this is the first time in the U.S. outbreak a person with H5N1 has displayed respiratory symptoms, unlike the previous two cases, which resulted in conjunctivitis. The respiratory symptoms are concerning because they “increase the odds of exposing someone to the virus as compared to conjunctival symptoms,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the CDC. “Someone who’s coughing may be more likely to transmit the virus than someone who has an eye infection like conjunctivitis.”

When researchers talk about their biggest bird flu fears, one that typically comes up involves an animal, such as a pig, becoming simultaneously infected with an avian and a human flu. So far, domestic poultry and dairy cows have proved to be imperfect vessels. So have the more than 48 other mammal species that became infected by eating infected birds and then died. But researchers say one population of animals is floating under the radar: pets. The risk may be low, but the opportunities for transmission are abundant. “I think companion animals definitely need to be in the picture,” Jane Sykes, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, told the Los Angeles Times. Sykes said diseases such as H5N1 should be viewed from a human, animal and ecosystem lens. None operates in isolation.

The Biden administration has said it will provide nearly $200 million to fight the spread of avian flu among dairy cows in the government’s latest bid to contain outbreaks that have fueled concerns about human infections with the H5N1 virus, Reuters reported. Scientists have said they believe the outbreak is more widespread based on FDA findings of H5N1 particles in about 20% of retail milk samples. The USDA will make $98 million available to provide up to $28,000 per dairy farm for efforts to contain the spread of the virus between animals and humans and for testing milk and animals for the virus, the agency said.

Further spread of bird flu among U.S. dairy herds presents additional opportunities for human infections, according to Reuters. Bird flu has been reported in 94 dairy herds across 12 states since late March, according to the USDA. The risk to public health is currently low, though additional spread of the virus could increase that risk, said Nirav Shah, principal deputy director for the CDC. “The more infections there are among cows, the more risk there is for infections to occur among humans,” Shah said. The CDC has monitored more than 500 people and tested at least 45 during the current outbreak, he added. Testing asymptomatic people could result in identifying people who are carrying virus in their nose that would not actually cause an infection.

Photo credits: istockphoto.com/standret; Opposite: istockphoto.com/gorodenkoff