Spikes of Bird Flu in Cats Could Be a Warning of a Future Pandemic --study

Spikes of Bird Flu in Cats Could Be a Warning of a Future Pandemic This needs to be monitored more closely. Jess Cockerill ScienceAlert

Cats infected with bird flu are falling under the radar when it comes to tracking and managing the virus, and this must change rapidly, scientists warn in a new paper.

The emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1) in the US has put poultry and dairy farms on high alert, resulting in culls that are devastating the industries, and fears it could transform into a human pandemic.

...new research from the University of Maryland in the US suggests feline cases – and the risk of transmission from cats to humans – is not being taken seriously enough.

"Bird flu is very deadly to cats, and we urgently need to figure out how widespread the virus is in cat populations to better assess spillover risk to humans," University of Maryland airborne infectious disease researcher Kristen Coleman says.

...https://academic.oup.com/ofid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ofid/ofaf261/8123920