34 cats tested positive for avian influenza or bird flu across eight provinces in Poland. The spread of this influenza among mammal has officials and WHO alarmed.
According to a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO), 34 cats have tested positive for bird flu or avian influenza in Poland and 11 of them have died. This is indeed very bizarre and in light if this development, the WHO cited that this is the first time they are witnessing such a widespread infection in felines in the country. However, the people in charge of investigating the scenario stated that there is no evidence showing that the infection is spreading from cat-t0-cat. They further stated that, the cat owners or other people who are exposed to a sick cat are also not reporting any illnesses so far. The majority of infected cats lived indoors with partial outdoor access, while others were primarily outdoor cats exposed to wild birds, potentially explaining their infection.
What Is Causing This Sudden Spread In Cats?
Experts note that avian influenza does not normally spread to domestic animals or mammals. But chances are, exposure to birds or poultry or the consumption of raw sick or dead wild birds or being in contaminated environments could be the cause of the spread in these felines.
What Are The Main Symptoms?
As per experts, some of the symptoms that these cats are displaying are neurological signs such as seizures and paralysis and also severe illness. Of the 34 infected cats, 11 died from the infection, and 14 were euthanized to prevent further spread.
Statement By WHO
The WHO has expressed concern over this outbreak and spread earlier in July. The concern was mainly over the that fact that the spread of bird flu among mammals could also make it easier for the virus to spread to humans. This influenza is not supposed to spread to mammals, it typically remains within the population of birds. However, the sudden change and surge in cases of H5N1 has alarmed the officials. Since 2022, around 10 countries on three continents have reported outbreaks in mammals to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
READ RELATED: Brain Tumor Myths: Arm Yourself With the Top 5 Facts
Total Wellness is now just a click away.
Follow us on
Don’t Miss Out on the Latest Updates.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter Today!
window.addEventListener(‘load’, (event) => {
$(‘#commentbtn’).on(“click”,function(){
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
$(“.cmntbox”).toggle();
});
});
