Since Covid-19 we are fearful of zoonoses such as bird flu

A zoonosis (plural: zoonoses) is a zoonotic disease which is one which can be transferred from animal to human and vice versa. It crosses the human-animal barrier if you like. Most diseases are confined to the particular species but since Covid-19 we have become very sensitive towards zoonotic diseases because of the devastation they can cause. Covid-19, to remind ourselves, started off in an animal. It was and still is an animal disease but it affects us as we are all too painfully aware.

Bird flu is an zoonosis by Michael Broad

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And, today, there's a bit of a scare about bird flu. It is also a zoonotic disease transmissible from birds to people via, potentially, domestic cats. This is why there are reports of six cats testing positive for bird flu in the American state of Colorado so far in 2024.

Bird flu (avian influenza) has been detected in cattle and chickens across Colorado and has now been found in six domestic cats according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and environment.

I suppose, the fear now is that these domestic cats can give the disease to their human caregivers. And this then smacks of the huge problems the world had with Covid-19. We don't want to repeat that do we?

For example, USA Today has a story about it. They ask whether your cat is at risk. I think the better question is whether we are at risk? Apparently some of the cats that have died of bird flu in Colorado had no direct exposure to outbreaks on dairy farms.

At present, the authorities have not determined how these cats caught the disease. But it should be directly related to dairy farm exposures according to a spokesperson for the Colorado Department Of Public Health and Environment.

Notes about bird flu

A couple of the cats were full-time indoor cats. That makes one scratch one's head as to how they got the disease. It would seem to me that these two cats died of the disease because the virus was tracked into the home by humans or by another companion animal, possibly a dog. And that dog visited a farm as did the human. I am speculating but the bringing into the home of diseases, pathogens or parasites is the way full-time indoor cats contract these diseases and illnesses.

For example, you could have a full-time indoor cat living in a nice home and the cat becomes infested with fleas. How can that happen? It happens because the human brings fleas into the home or their dog does. That's why you have to treat full-time indoor cats with flea treatments sometimes. It depends how the caregiver manages the home. I have never given my cat flea treatments of any kind. I don't need to and he is an outdoor/indoor cat. It's about management.

To return to avian flu, and the six cats killed by it in Colorado, some experts believe that the deaths could be linked to mice in and around homes that carry bird flu. Cats almost invariably prey upon mice and it is possible that their owners are unaware of this. Another possible source could be raw food that people feed their pets.

This is an interesting topic. There's quite a trend in feeding cat raw foods because it is, arguably, inherently healthier for a cat to eat raw meat combined with appropriate supplements to ensure that the diet is balanced because many people are dissatisfied with the artificiality of commercial pet food. It can cause illnesses in cats.

But veterinarians consistently argue that it is dangerous to feed a cat raw meats partly because of cross contamination in terms of storage but also because raw meat can carry pathogens and in this case arguably avian flu.

One expert believes that the six cats that have died of avian flu are the tip of the iceberg. They said that "There are often lots of cases that don't get recognised."

I totally agree that. A lot of cats are probably dying of avian flu because they been misdiagnosed with perhaps suffering from herpes virus which is the cat cold. Although people should not be overly concerned, they should be vigilant. The risk of bird flu to the public health is low say Colorado state and federal officials.

A bird flu infection can be contracted from exposure to saliva, mucus or faeces from infected birds. Or as mentioned from a cat eating a mouse infected with the disease. The cat might then give the disease to a caregiver via faeces? 

Or by humans eating raw foods infected with the disease (but see below) although I have not seen a report about that means of transmission in the news media. People with close or prolonged unprotected contact with infected birds or places where there are sick birds or their mucus, saliva or faeces will be at greater risk of contracting a bird flu virus infection.

P.S. There is no current evidence that avian influenza can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of contaminated poultry products. Safe handling of raw meat and other raw food ingredients, thorough cooking and good kitchen hygiene can prevent or reduce the risks posed by contaminated food.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.