Bird flu: Don�t put the cat among the chickens

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   Bird flu: Don�t put the cat among the chickens, warn Dutch team
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April157.xml&section=theworld&col=
(AFP)

5 April 2006 

PARIS - A leading team of European virologists has appealed for health authorities to step up vigilance about household pets, saying cats and possibly dogs too are at risk from bird flu.

Albert Osterhaus and colleagues at the Erasmus maskmanal Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, say that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other agencies have under-estimated the risk from cats in their campaign against avian influenza.
They point to several documented cases in Thailand, Indonesia and Germany in which domestic cats, farmyard cats and zoo felines have fallen sick or died after eating H5N1-infected chickens or wild birds, including the death of 147 tigers at a Thai zoo in 2004.
And they say that lab tests they have conducted prove that cats can catch the virus in several ways -- either from eating infected chicks, through contact with infected birds or through virus administered directly into the respiratory tract.
�The available evidence, albeit incomplete, suggests that cats are more than collateral damage in avian flu�s deadly global spread and may play a greater role in the epidemiology of the virus than previously thought,� the Dutch experts say in a commentary published on Thursday in Nature.
The Osterhaus team acknowledge that no-one knows if an infected cat can pass on H5N1 to humans.
Just as unknown is whether the animal, by harbouring the virus, can help it to mutate into a pandemic form -- a pathogen that is not only lethal for humans but contagious, too.
But, they say, this risk cannot be ruled out, and precautions should thus be incorporated into the guidelines of the WHO, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
They recommend that steps be taken to prevent contact between cats and infected birds or their droppings; cats suspected of such contacts should be quarantined; and in temperate climates where there has been an outbreak of bird flu, cats should be kept indoors.
Surveillance should also be boosted for any sign of the bird flu virus among dogs, foxes, weasels, stoats and seals, as �we now know that H5N1 virus has the ability to infect an unprecedented range of hosts, including carnivores,� the commentary adds

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Jhetta Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: March 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 1272	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jhetta Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Bird flu: Don�t put the cat among the chickens Posted: April 05 2006 at 12:20am
	Bird flu: Don�t put the cat among the chickens, warn Dutch team http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/April/theworld_April157.xml&section=theworld&col= (AFP) 5 April 2006 PARIS - A leading team of European virologists has appealed for health authorities to step up vigilance about household pets, saying cats and possibly dogs too are at risk from bird flu. Albert Osterhaus and colleagues at the Erasmus maskmanal Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, say that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other agencies have under-estimated the risk from cats in their campaign against avian influenza. They point to several documented cases in Thailand, Indonesia and Germany in which domestic cats, farmyard cats and zoo felines have fallen sick or died after eating H5N1-infected chickens or wild birds, including the death of 147 tigers at a Thai zoo in 2004. And they say that lab tests they have conducted prove that cats can catch the virus in several ways -- either from eating infected chicks, through contact with infected birds or through virus administered directly into the respiratory tract. �The available evidence, albeit incomplete, suggests that cats are more than collateral damage in avian flu�s deadly global spread and may play a greater role in the epidemiology of the virus than previously thought,� the Dutch experts say in a commentary published on Thursday in Nature. The Osterhaus team acknowledge that no-one knows if an infected cat can pass on H5N1 to humans. Just as unknown is whether the animal, by harbouring the virus, can help it to mutate into a pandemic form -- a pathogen that is not only lethal for humans but contagious, too. But, they say, this risk cannot be ruled out, and precautions should thus be incorporated into the guidelines of the WHO, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). They recommend that steps be taken to prevent contact between cats and infected birds or their droppings; cats suspected of such contacts should be quarantined; and in temperate climates where there has been an outbreak of bird flu, cats should be kept indoors. Surveillance should also be boosted for any sign of the bird flu virus among dogs, foxes, weasels, stoats and seals, as �we now know that H5N1 virus has the ability to infect an unprecedented range of hosts, including carnivores,� the commentary adds