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Cats must be included in virus precautions, say animal experts
Animal health experts called yesterday for new precautions against bird flu because cats, and possibly other mammals, can be infected and could spread the H5N1 virus.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:00 April 6, 2006
London: Animal health experts called yesterday for new precautions against bird flu because cats, and possibly other mammals, can be infected and could spread the H5N1 virus.
Dr Albert Osterhaus, of Erasmus University in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, also warned that as well as passing H5N1 to other species, cats may help the virus to adapt into a more highly infectious strain in humans which could spark a pandemic.
"We have to take a number of precautionary measures," said Osterhaus, a virologist and veterinarian.
"We need to keep in mind that mammals can be infected and that they can spread the disease, in principle."
Animals such as dogs, foxes, ferrets and seals may also be vulnerable to infection, the researchers said in a commentary in the journal Nature.
They recommended that in areas where avian flu is endemic, cats should not be in contact with birds or their droppings. Cats may need to be kept indoors and if animals or other carnivores show signs of illness they should be tested for H5N1.
"Perhaps there is a case for developing a vaccine for cats as well," Osterhaus told Reuters.
Cats can also act as an early warning signal for the virus.
"When wild birds are infected we have seen that cats are quite effective in catching them and catching the disease. In this way they could be sentinels," Osterhaus said.
Deaths from H5N1, which has infected 191 people and killed 108, have been reported in cats in countries in Asia and in Iraq and Germany. Tigers and leopards in zoos in Thailand have also died after eating fresh chicken carcasses.
"The potential role of cats should be considered in official guidelines for controlling the spread of H5N1 virus," experts said in the journal.
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