If cats can get bird flu and not get ill, this could mean a possible risk to humans, says Michael Perdue, who works in the World Health Organization’s Global Influenza Program. It could mean that the virus is adapting to mammals. Perdue says more research is needed on cats and bird flu.
A cat at an animal sanctuary in Graz, southern Austria, caught the H5N1 bird flu virus strain, but is not ill. As the virus can take a week to make its victim ill, perhaps the cat will eventually get sick, said Perdue.
If an animal carries the H5N1 virus but does not get ill, it could mean that it spreads the disease. If an animal dies of H5N1 infection, the spread stops there and then – however, if it is alive and moving around?.
Perdue said evidence does not indicate that cats have been the source of infections that have wiped out whole flocks in poultry farms.
Perdue, in an interview with Reuters, said tests need to be carried out on the virus to find out whether it has changed genetically.
Virologists say that if the H5N1 strain can remain in animals and not make them ill, it will be much more difficult to monitor its spread. The chances of it mutating also increase.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today