3 more cats test positive for H5N1 bird flu in the U.S.

Three more cats have tested positive for H5N1 bird flu in connection with a growing outbreak in dairy cows across the United States, according to federal officials. This raises the number of cases in cats in the current outbreak to six.

Sonja Olsen, the Associate Director of Preparedness and Response at CDC’s Influenza Division, said three more cats had recently tested positive for avian influenza.

“As of today, there are affected herds in 33 farms across eight states. And there are also six detections in cats confirmed on various dairy farms and also wild bird confirmations on some of the farms,” Olsen said.

Asked for more information about the new cases, Olsen told BNO News: “The reports we heard were of cats having neurologic symptoms, rapid decline, and death.”

Two of the new cases were found at dairy farms in Curry County, New Mexico and one was found at a dairy farm in Wood County, Ohio. Three other cats were previously reported to have died at dairy farms in Texas.

The global spread of H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b – and the recent spread to a growing number of mammals – has raised concern about the possibility of a future variant which could lead to human-to-human transmission. So far, only a few human cases have been found after contact with infected birds or cattle.

In late March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that bird flu had been found in unpasteurized milk from sick cows in Kansas and Texas, making it the first-ever detection in cattle. Since then, 33 outbreaks have been reported across 8 states and one farm worker in Texas tested positive.

Earlier this week, officials confirmed that viral fragments of H5N1 were also found in samples of commercial milk, but experts say it’s still safe to drink because of pasteurization. Further testing is underway to confirm those initial findings.

Cats are known to be vulnerable to this new strain of H5N1 bird flu. The first case in a cat with this variant was reported near a duck farm in southern France in December 2022, causing it to be euthanized.

Months later, in 2023, nearly 40 cats died at two animal shelters in South Korea after eating contaminated cat food. And in Poland, more than a dozen cats died in an outbreak presumably caused by contaminated raw meat.

In the United States, at least 19 cats have been infected with H5N1 bird flu, including the 6 cases reported this month. The other 13 happened last year in connection with infected poultry or wild birds.