BBC Cat bird flu risks 'overlooked'

[Guest guest]

* Cat bird flu risks 'overlooked' *

Extra precautions should be taken to prevent the

spread of bird flu to cats - and then to humans,

scientists warn.

Full story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/health/4878868.stm

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Cat bird flu risks 'overlooked'

It is vital to restrict the spread of bird flu

in cats in order to protect human health,

scientists warn.

 

Writing in Nature, scientists from Erasmus

Medical Centre, Rotterdam, say the risk is being

overlooked.

 

They say cats can contract the virus by eating

infected chicken or through close contact with

other cats - both new ways of mammals becoming

infected.

 

However, animal health experts said there was a

" limited risk " to humans from infected mammals

with H5N1 flu.

 

The first report of domestic cats dying of the

H5N1 virus emerged in Thailand in 2004 when 14

out of 15 cats in a household near Bangkok fell

ill and died.

 

One had eaten a chicken carcass on a farm where

there was an outbreak of the virus.

 

Post-mortem examinations on three of the cats confirmed the presence of H5N1.

 

Since then, there have been deaths among cats in

Indonesia, Thailand and Iraq, where H5N1 appears

to be prevalent among poultry.

 

And the disease is common among cats in Indonesia.

 

A dead cat was also found in Germany in March

after the H5N1 virus was found in wild birds.

 

There have been reports of big cats dying from

the deadly H5N1 virus - including 147 tigers who

died in a Thai zoo after eating infected chicken.

 

Dogs at risk

 

The Erasmus researchers say there is too little

data to establish what the minimum dose needed to

infect cats is or whether cats can excrete the

virus even if they are uninfected.

 

It is also not known whether they can transmit

the virus back to poultry or even on to humans.

 

Cats seem to be an evolutionary blind alley

Professor Peter Openshaw, Imperial College

 

The scientists warn that other carnivorous

animals including dogs, foxes and seals are also

vulnerable to infection.

 

Professor Albert Osterhaus, the lead author of

the Nature report, told the BBC News website:

" This is a concern where the H5N1 virus is

endemic among poultry.

 

" We do not want to exaggerate the risk but if it

is there then health officials must take the

necessary steps. "

 

He said these included keeping domestic cats

inside, ensuring dogs were kept on the lead and

quarantining any animals that showed signs of ill

health.

 

" It's not easy for a person to be infected by a

cat but where a child is in close contact with a

sick animal or it has diarrhoea or is licking

someone, it is a possibility. "

 

But he stressed: " In areas where the virus is

not endemic, these measures are not necessary. "

 

Precautions

 

Professor Peter Openshaw, head of respiratory

infections at London's Imperial College, said:

" At the moment, cats seem to be an evolutionary

blind alley.

 

" They mainly get a gut or lung infection and

haven't been shown to be able to transmit to man.

 

" However, cats might form a bridge to man since

they often live in close domestic contact - in

the same way that nursing a sick pet bird has

been shown to do. "

 

A spokesman for the Animal Health Service, part

of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of

the UN, said there were certain parts of the

world where H5N1 was present where any

bird-eating animal posed a " limited risk " to

humans.

 

Precautionary measures for pet animals were needed in such places, he said.

 

He said the FAO, along with the World Health

Organisation and the World Organisation for

Animal Health, planned to carry out research to

look at cat infections and the role cats l could

play in the development of avian flu.

 

 

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4878868.stm

 

Published: 2006/04/06 00:36:59 GMT

 

© BBC MMVI

 

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