Two dairy workers in Michigan may have transmitted bird flu to their pet cats last May, suggesting a new study published on Thursday by the Disease Control and Prevention Center.
In a house, infected cats may also pass the virus to other people in the house, but limited evidence makes it difficult to detect the possibility.
The results are from a study that was going to be published in January, but the CDC was delayed by the stoppage of Trump administration on communication.
A single data table of the new report appeared online in a paper on a wildfire in California two weeks ago, then disappeared quickly. That odd incident inspired the call from public health experts for the release of the study.
Experts stated that the new paper still leaves the unanswered people, in which cats have become infected first and whether the farmworkers spread the virus for cats and other people in the house, the experts said.
“I don’t think we can ask to make sure whether it is a human-to-cat or cat-to-humman or a cat-to-something,” Jennifer Nuzo, director of the Brown University School of the Pandemic Center, Jennifer Nuzo Said. public health.
Michigan officials started investigating two houses in May last May when indoor cats showed respiratory and neurological symptoms and after death, conducted a positive test for the virus, called H5N1. The authorities interviewed the owners and members of the house and offered them to test them for the virus.
The owner of both cats was a dairy worker. The first farm worker did not work directly with cows, and the field was not known for infected herds. But the worker said that many cats of the barn in the farm premises died recently. The worker experienced vomiting and diarrhea even before the first domestic cat became ill.
The second farm worker reported to splash the face and eyes with milk and experience eye irritation. Both workers refused to test.
“This study provides more about evidence that high -risk exposure farmwork can deny testing,” Dr. Nuzo said.
He said, “To protect people and to be ahead of this virus, we need to remove disintegration to patients,” he said. “People should not be afraid that positive testing will cause financial crisis or other personal loss.”
In the house of the first formwork, the first cat to become ill, showed lack of appetite, lack of grooming, unusual moves and lethargy, and quickly deteriorated. He was considering the fourth day of the disease.
Another cat in the house led to a decrease in hunger four days after the water discharge of water, breathing rapidly and the first cat became ill. The cat was recovered and tested for the virus. A third cat had no symptoms and a negative test was done for the virus 11 days after the first cat became ill.
Neither cats nor humans drank unexpected milk in the house. How cats can be infected, it is not clear, but experts said that farmworkers were infected with H5N1 at their workplace and taking the virus home to their cats.
“If you love your cat, you probably kisses it if it gives you,” of Cryston. Kolman said, an infectious disease researcher at the University of Maryland.
Three people at home – an adult and two teenagers – conducted a negative test for H5N1. Six days after the first cat became ill, one of the teenagers became ill with cough, sore throat and body pain, and the other reported a cough that was attributed to allergies.
But because the teenagers were tested late – 11 days after the first cat became ill – it was not impossible that they became infected with H5N1 that they got up from cats, Dr. Kolman said.
Later in May, a pet cat in another house developed severe neurological symptoms, including anorexia and minimal agitation, and died within a day; The cat conducted a positive test for bird flu after his death.
The cat owner transported unpassive milk, including the known bird flu outbreak fields. According to the study, the owner did not wear individual safety equipment (PPE) while handling raw milk; Printed excess exposure of milk for the face, eyes and clothes reported; And on returning from work, do not remove work clothes before entering the house. ,
The cat who had become ill, was known for the “roll in the owner’s work clothes”, said in the study.
Dr. Vicoconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Director Dr. Keith Paulsen said that the virus in raw milk on those clothes can be a source of infection in the cat.
“At this point, I think they are at risk from high risk raw dairy products,” he said. “Milk has a lot of virus.”
Of the 24 veterinary staff members who were in contact with potentially infected cats, seven reported symptoms such as nasal congestion and headache. Only five agreed for testing; All were negative.
Dr. Kolman recommended that the vet should be cautious about the possibility of bird flu infection when looking at sick cats. “Pet owners should not rely on postmortem samples to diagnose,” he said.
