United States: In the latest update of the large-scale spread of bird flu, over half of the domestic cats that had access to the unpasteurized milk from the affected cows that had tested positive of bird flu at the first Texas dairy farm the spring of this year, showed symptoms and died.
Such an incidence might provide an insight into the mortality of these virulent types of infectious diseases at large scale.
According to the journal of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s publication in Emerging Infectious Diseases, vets in the region and academic laboratories shared their early investigations into a disease that began spreading amongst cows just a few months ago.
More about the case
The cats in Texas had been fed raw milk from cows that later had been shown to be infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.
On the day after the farm first encountered the cattle getting sick, the cats also got sick. Moreover, by the end, the investigators into the case found that about half of them had passed away.
The scientists stated, “The cats were found dead with no apparent signs of injury and were from a resident population of [approximately] 24 domestic cats that had been fed milk from sick cows,” as CBS News reported.
The results from the tests of samples collected from the brains and lungs of dead cats suggested “high amounts of virus.” Additionally, autopsies done on the cats also showed “microscopic lesions consistent with severe systemic virus infection.”
The test results of milk samples by the FDA
More than one out of five milk test samples that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) checked from US retail stores was positive for H5N1. Although the agency also said that disease remained deactivated in milk with pasteurization, leaving no harmless fragments behind.
Therefore, the authorities have repeatedly reminded the population that dairy products that have been pasteurized should be used instead.
However, the recent cows-to-cats transmission of the virus via raw milk is a new revelation in relation to other species susceptible to H5N1. It was previously known that cats were among the species with the highest odds of contracting a severe disease following an infection with H5N1.
On the other hand, the cases of the sickness in dairy cattle with infection were negligible compared to the ones with approximately 15 percent of the cows manifesting symptoms, the scientists reported. The officials once mentioned that the cows mostly recover from this disease within a one-month period of time. The virus has proven lethal for those farms that had widespread cases or had to be slaughtered after contracting the virus passed on from wild birds.
The impact of previous research on the H5N1 infections to the death cases and neurological disorders among domestic cats is found. This same thing was witnessed in a scientific research article published in the CDC journal from Thailand in 2006, where it was suspected that a cat ate a sick pigeon and as a consequence, gained the virus.
The agency said that “While it’s unlikely that people would become infected with bird flu viruses through contact with an infected wild, stray, feral, or domestic cat, it is possible — especially if there is prolonged and unprotected exposure to the animal,” as CBS reported.