Avian flu may be spreading between people and cats more than previously thought, a new federal study said.
Findings published Thursday by the Center’s Weekly Journal of Disease Control and Prevention add to concerns about the spread of avian flu between humans and cats, and vice versa. Avian influenza is known to cause severe illness and death in cats, often through raw food, milk and dead birds. However, this study provides evidence of the increased threat poses even when cats are not directly exposed to sick dairy cows or poultry.
The study examined indoor cats who had severe illness and died in two Michigan households around May, when avian flu is circulating on farms. . Both lived in the same county, and both took sick cats to Michigan State University Veterinary Medical Center.
Two cats that died have one cat in each household showing signs of respiratory and neurological disease, according to a study published by CDC researchers and health and agriculture officials at Michigan and Michigan State University. It seemed to be there. The cat later tested positive for avian influenza, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza.
A 5-year-old woman, a cat from the first household, was euthanized four days after signs of illness, and a 6-month-old Maine Coon cat, a cat from the second household, died within one day of illness .
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People in the house also showed symptoms of the illness. Neither worker in each household has received avian flu tests or antiviral medications, and the second worker loses employment as a result of speaking to public health officials and suggesting a farm that provided milk. They were afraid of this, the study said.
This finding raises concerns about surveillance and public health protocols and appropriately identifies avian flu circulation. Researchers also show that the study shows concerns about the continued mutation of avian influenza, increasing the risk of transmission to humans, but this has not been the case before. So far, nearly 70 people have had the avian flu so far, locked up mainly between dairy and poultry workers, with one dead, according to the CDC.
The study also appears to have been released with graphics in the CDC’s Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report (MMWR) before it was destroyed earlier this month, as reported by the New York Times. Since President Donald Trump took office, it has been considered a prominent science publication for researchers around the world, and has been delayed in the release of MMWR’s report, amid cuts in health agencies.
The first workers who did not work directly with animals but who worked on the farm remove their work clothes and boots and place them away from indoor cats in the home. In the first household, the workers lived with another adult and two adolescents.
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A day before the 5-year-old female cat got sick, the worker spent a day of vomiting and diarrhea. One family adolescent developed cough, sore throat, headache and muscle pain six days after the 5-year-old cat became ill. Three household members tested negative for influenza, while adolescents produced positive experimental results for line virus/enteroviruses, or colds, which are different from avian influenza. Dairy workers were regularly in contact with a sick five-year-old cat and adolescent.
Four days after the 5-year-old cat got sick, another cat was discharged from the hospital with watery eyes, increased breathing and reduced appetite, but these resolved after four days. The third cat showed no signs and was tested negative.
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Meanwhile, the second worker transported raw milk and reported that their work frequently had raw milk exposed on their faces, eyes and clothes without personal protective equipment. Workers bring work clothes indoors, where cats inside roll their clothes. The worker experienced eye irritation two days before the indoor cat was shown to be ill.
The second household had a second worker, a six-month old male cat and a second indoor cat. The second indoor cat showed no signs of illness and the nose swab was tested negative for the virus.
This study calls for increased veterinarian consideration of occupational information for pet owners, testing for the flu virus, and wearing PPE.