Cats infected with avian flu appeared briefly online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but later disappeared suddenly, data that revealed that the virus turned into humans in the same household Wide it and vice versa. Although the data appears to be posted incorrectly, people and pets contain important information about the risk of avian flu.
In one household, an infected cat may have spread the virus to another cat and a young human, according to a copy of the data table obtained by the New York Times. The cat died four days after symptoms began. In the second household, an infected dairy farm worker appears to be the first person to show symptoms, and the cat gets sick two days later and dies on the third day.
The table was the only reference to avian flu in a science report released Wednesday, and otherwise focused on air quality and wildfires in Los Angeles County. The table does not exist in embargo copies of the papers shared with news media on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions currently available online. The table was temporarily displayed around 1pm when the paper was first posted, but it is unclear how or why the error occurred.
The virus called H5N1 is primarily adapted to birds, but has been circulating in dairy cows since the beginning of last year. H5N1 also infected at least 67 Americans, but it still doesn't have the capacity to spread easily among people. Only one American from Louisiana has so far died of H5N1 infection.
This report is part of the CDC's prestigious morbidity and mortality weekly report, which was published regularly every week decades ago, up until two weeks ago. However, until the wildfire report was released on Wednesday, the agency's communication ban regained the report.
Experts said the discovery that a cat may have given the virus to people was not at all unexpected. However, they realized that the discovery had not yet been made public.
“We've been working hard to get into the world,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown's Pandemic Center. University School of Public Health.
It was important that the CDC immediately release the complete data and the context in which they were collected for other scientists to review, she said.
Scientists have long known that cats are very susceptible to the virus. At least 85 cats have been infected since late 2022, according to the US Department of Agriculture. However, no previously documented cases of cats passing the virus to people.
“Given the numbers of cats in the US and the close contact with people, there's no doubt that we need to understand the potential risks,” says Dr. Diego Diel, a veterinarian and virologist at Cornell University. .
Cats can become infected when preying on infected wild birds, but cases of domestic cats in the US began to rise last year as the virus spreads to dairy farms. On many farms, a dead cat was the first signal to have an infection with a cow. Several recent cases of pet cats have also been linked to contaminated raw pet food or raw milk.
H5N1 is often fatal in cats and can develop severe neurological symptoms.
Historically, H5N1 has primarily influenced birds. However, over the past few years, newer versions of the virus have been proven to be capable of infecting a wide range of mammals, including wild cats, domestic cats, seals, and dairy cows. Mammalian infectious diseases can increase the chances of evolution in ways that can be more easily transmitted to the virus than humans.
