Showing posts with label zoonotic diseases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zoonotic diseases. Show all posts

Sunday, 18 August 2024

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

------------

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.



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.

-------------

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.

Thursday, 15 August 2024

Can domestic cats get Mpox?

Yes, domestic cats can potentially contract Mpox (monkeypox), as it is a zoonosis (zoonotic disease) although it is rare. Transmission would likely occur through close contact with an infected person or animal. It’s important to monitor your pets if you or someone in your household has Mpox, and consult a veterinarian if you have concerns. Keeping pets away from infected individuals is a prudent measure to minimize risk. It is present in Europe but rare at present.

Mpox by Michael Broad

--------------

 A zoonotic disease is one that can be transmitted from animals to humans and humans to animals. It crosses the human-animal 'barrier'.  Two other well-known zoonoses are: Covid-19 and toxoplasmosis. There are others.


The virus that gives cats colds (usually the herpes virus) cannot infect humans and humans with colds cannot give the disease to their cats.

Nearly always diseases are specific to cats. Almost all feline diseases cannot be given to humans.

Mpox - monkeypox- is a pretty nasty disease that has killed hundreds of kids in Africa, particularly the Republic of the Congo.

It is present in Europe and the Americas. There are no cases currently (Aug 2024) in the UK. Health officials are on their guard.

Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus. This genus also includes other viruses such as variola (which causes smallpox), vaccinia (used in the smallpox vaccine), and cowpox. Monkeypox virus is primarily found in certain animals in Central and West Africa.

---------

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.

Monday, 26 February 2024

Mail Online continues to scaremonger about pet cats being a "major harborer of deadly diseases"

NEWS AND OPINION: I'm irritated. The Mail Online has published yet another article also by their deputy health editor in America, Alexa Lardieri, in which she exaggerates either deliberately or carelessly the potential for the domestic cat to carry zoonotic diseases which can be transferred to people. 



In her headline she says that the pet cat is a "major harbourer of deadly diseases". The phrase "major harbourer" is highly misleading. It is irresponsible. It is likely to lead to many cat owners questioning whether they should continue to own a cat. 

The domestic cat is not a major harborer of zoonotic diseases. It does carry some zoonotic diseases but we know they are rarely transferred or are rarely serious otherwise there wouldn't be hundreds of millions of domestic cats around the globe. And relative to humans spreading disease to other humans, the domestic cat is in a minor league. There is no comparison. That's because nearly all diseases affecting cats cannot be transmitted to people.

What she has written in the Mail Online might lead to cats being surrendered to animal shelters where they might be euthanised despite being healthy.

Two more examples of Mail Online's misleading, clickbait articles that harm the cat:
This woman is dangerous for the domestic cat. She is referring to the recent Oregon bubonic plague case - an incredibly rare case - in which it was assessed that a resident was hospitalised with the disease having got it from a cat.

Back in the 1300s in England it was a deadly disease killing many thousands but today it can be cured with antibiotics which weren't available back in the day. It is no longer a deadly disease but Alexa likes to use click bait tactics to get more hits to her newspaper in scaremongering and giving the impression that the domestic cat is wandering around the place spreading deadly diseases to residents.

This is entirely incorrect and as I mentioned, irresponsible. She is also referred to recent 'Alaskapox' death. This is another extremely rare infection which occurs as you can guess in Alaska. It is a viral disease and in this case an elderly man died after contracting it.

The experts say that it appears to be zoonotic and it appears to be circulating across Alaska's mammals with occasional transmission to humans. Notice that it is carried by "mammals" meaning other animals as well as possibly and perhaps rarely the domestic cat.

It's mainly found in small mammals including voles and shrews but sometimes cats as well and over the past nine years seven people in Alaska have been infected by it. It appears that, rarely, a domestic cat contracts the disease when bumping into or preying upon a small mammal that has the disease.

Nearly all of the people who contracted it had mild illnesses which resolved on their own after a few weeks without treatment. The symptoms include bumps or pustules on the skin and joint or muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes.

Let's be sensible, please. It is pretty clear to me that Alexa Lardieri doesn't like cats. She wants cats to be kept indoors all the time and it appears that she has an agenda to promote. Her writing is not neutral or unbiased. To me, she is not a good reporter.

I hope people think about what she's saying, do their own research and find out as I have that she is exaggerating and scaremongering.

-----------

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.

Sunday, 17 December 2023

"Link" between cat ownership and schizophrenia DOES NOT PROVE CAUSE AND EFFECT


As usual, from time to time the news media like to claim that owning a cat can cause schizophrenia. They cite studies and a new one has recently been published. But the news media reporters tend or always miss a very important point which I'll explain.

In broad terms you can categorise scientific studies into two groups: those that are observational and those that prove cause and effect.

Observational studies


These simply observe what is going on and report on it. So in the study referred to (see citation at base of this post) they found the following: "Our findings support an association between cat exposure and an increased risk of broadly defined schizophrenia-related disorders" and this: "We found that individuals exposed to cats had approximately twice the odds of developing schizophrenia". But this does not prove that owning a cat increases the chances of the owner developing schizophrenia.

It might but it is not proved scientifically through a detailed scientific analysis of the transference of the zoonotic disease T. Gondii from the cat to the person. The argument is that T. Gondii causes schizophrenia. But the observed cat owners might be predisposed to schizophrenia for any number of reasons and they just happen to own a cat.

Or the results might be explained by the fact that people who have fragile minds are more likely to adopt a cat for support and company as they find it harder to find a partner who accepts them. That last point is probably the most likely reason for this link between exposure to cats and schizophrenia-related disorders.

Cause and effect


I have touched on this above. The study would have to prove through hard science that cats caused these illnesses and as far as I know they have not. The study in question reviewed 17 early studies over 44 years.

I have done a lot of work on this topic and I have never seen it proved that cats cause schizophrenia-related illnesses.

One last point: often scientists have an axe to grind. They might dislike cats. Or they are funded by businesses who dislike cats. Or governments who have an agenda such as to keep cats inside the home full-time to protect native species or protect native species by reducing the domestic cat population. This kind of study might put people off adopting a cat for instance.

Click the following link to read another article about cat poop causing mental illness: Inconclusive study does not find Toxoplasma gondii infection causes schizophrenia in people.

Conclusion


Beware studies in general. Many are excellent and very useful but some are not. A recent story from the UK reported that one online journal deleted 40,000 studies as they were dubious. It is believed that they were churned out to boost the scientists' CV. They were fake and the journal had not been rigorous enough in vetting them.

RELATED: Beware of "bad science" research papers published online.

The study


John J McGrath, Carmen C W Lim, Sukanta Saha, Cat Ownership and Schizophrenia-Related Disorders and Psychotic-Like Experiences: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2023;, sbad168, https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbad168
-------

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.

Thursday, 4 May 2023

2 instances when cat many owners destroyed their cats believing they'd catch a fatal disease from them

There have been a couple of high-profile instances when many cat owners deliberately destroyed their cat companions because they believed that they might catch a fatal disease from them.

AIDS in humans set of panic in nervous cat owners who killed their cats
AIDS in humans set off panic in nervous cat owners who killed their cats. Image: CNN.

FIV

Feline AIDS as it is sometimes called or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) was discovered in 1986. In June 1981, the first cases of the illness now known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were reported from Los Angeles in five young homosexual men diagnosed with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and other opportunistic infections (CDC).

The news media reported on FIV in a way which scared the population into believing that they could catch the disease from their cats.

This led to some cat owners panicking and killing their cats. Within hours of the newspaper reports nervous cat owners were taking their cats to shelters and asking them to euthanise them or find new homes.

Eventually the news media researched the facts and reported that the virus that causes feline AIDS was not zoonotic i.e., it cannot be transmitted to humans but the damage had been done and many cats were killed unnecessarily.

It is true that the viruses causing human and feline AIDS belong to the same group of viruses but they are distantly related. There is no way a cat can give a human the disease even by biting and scratching them.

Covid

When this disease was first reported in the news media, I can well remember the effect it had on nervous cat owners in China. Those in high rise apartment blocks began throwing their cats out of the windows to their deaths on the paving below.

Cats thrown from tower blocks in China during the early days of the Covid pandemic
Cats thrown from tower blocks in China during the early days of the Covid pandemic. Image in public domain.


It was dire. And then as the pandemic progressed thousands of cat owners abandoned their pets in locked apartments for them to die of starvation. It was utterly mad.

At the time there was no media reports of the possibility of contracting the disease from companion animals so these cat killings were entirely out of panic. 

As it transpired it was found that Covid is zoonotic and can infect people. And people can get the disease from pets but even at the end of the pandemic there have been exceptionally few examples.

Thursday, 16 March 2023

Toxoplasma gondii infections in Chinese and ethnic minority races in China mainly caused by eating raw meats

The people who dislike cats say that cat owners and other people get toxoplasma gondii infections from cats through cat faeces as the feces can contain oocysts for a short period. And there's lots of discussion on the Internet about this and whether a pregnant woman should have a domestic cat companion. Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease.

But the experts, and I would include myself in that, say that the major way people contract toxoplasma gondii infections is through their handling of and their eating of certain foods. I'm referring to undercooked or uncooked foods and handling raw foods and then using their hands to eat cooked foods. This creates cross contamination.

And in this vein, I've picked up a study on the Internet about Toxoplasma gondii infections in humans in China dated 2011.

The study is interesting because in certain parts of China they have very specific eating habits. Sometimes these eating habits exacerbate the likelihood of contracting toxoplasmosis.

The first human case of toxoplasmosis in China was reported in 1964 and there were many human cases reported in China after an epidemic survey on toxoplasmosis was carried out in Guangxi province in 1978. The difficulty is that it is hard to glean information from Chinese documents because little information is published in English.

Interestingly, and this point needs to be made, based upon the documents surveyed, the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in humans in China is lower than in France for example (50-75% seropositive). A lot lower in fact. Although in the provinces in China the incidences of toxoplasmosis increased from 5.2% in 1988 to 7.9% in 2004.

Guizhou province and Guangxi province had the highest levels of prevalence at 15.1% and 12.7% respectively. The ethic group Miao and the highest incidence of Toxoplasma gondii infections in people at 25.4%.

They state that the eating habits of the ethnic groups surveyed were an important part in being infected. For example, people living in south-west China enjoy eating raw or half-raw meat. Or they eat animal organs as part of their tradition. They might eat sour-meat or pork or beef which is half-raw. The Mongol people like to eat their traditional food using their hands after contact with animals or raw meat (Mongolian Finger Mutton).

The study points to the fact that the greatest risk of being infected with toxoplasma gondii is through eating or handling raw meat. A toxoplasma gondii infection is usually harmless (asymptomatic) but can cause serious illness.

The incidence of Chinese citizens with tuberculosis and hepatitis B of a toxoplasma gondii infection was much higher at 35.3% and 19.2% respectively. Most of the cases were chronic infections. And they state that "70% of individuals infected with T gondii and tuberculosis had the experience of intimate contact with animals."

The study concluded that the oral route of a T. gondii infection is the major route. And pigs in China are often infected. The infection rate in pigs in some parts of China is 53.4% whereas in the USA it is 2.7%. The Chinese like their pork. As I recall, they are the biggest consumers of pork in the world.

The conclusion that one takes from the study is that the greatest risk of being infected with T gondii is through the handling and eating of raw or semi-raw meats due to cultural traditions.

In the West, such as in America, the greatest risk will be through handling raw meat in the kitchen. Veterinarians will tell you that people get the disease from eating raw or undercooked pork, beef, mutton or veal or unpasteurised dairy products which contain toxoplasma organisms.

It is the handling of these products and the consuming of them and the necessary regulations and advice issued by governments concerning these matters that count in terms of reducing infections. 

Educational programs are important to help people change their habit of consuming undercooked meat. Lastly, water that hasn't been boiled in certain districts of China are an issue because oocysts can survive up to 3 years and be transmitted by water through direct drinking.

The study: Zhou, P., Chen, Z., Li, HL. et al. Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans in China. Parasites Vectors 4, 165 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-4-165

Wednesday, 15 February 2023

If you have one of these diseases don't blame your cat (Infographic)

Sometimes the domestic and feral cat get a bad rap because some people think that they spread a lot of diseases to humans. It is a reason why they keep them off the kitchen counter for example. 

And sometimes people want to kill and even eradicate feral cats in the area where they live because they think that they spread disease. These claims are highly exaggerated. The truth of the matter is that human spread far more diseases to other humans than cats spread diseases to humans. 

So why don't we kill some humans instead? Crazy of course. It is equally crazy to kill cats for this reason.

If you have one of these diseases don't blame your cat (Infographic)

The obvious reason is that relatively few diseases which affect cats can be transmitted across the species barrier to humans. Diseases that can do this are called zoonotic. Covid-19 is zoonotic by the way. You may know that.

Anyway, the Infographic just sets out some diseases which people might blame their cat for transmitting to them or somebody they know or a relative. The idea is to put the record straight.

Saturday, 17 December 2022

Russians searching for 400,000 year old prehistoric paleoviruses in Siberia (BIOLOGICAL WARFARE?)

NEWS AND OPINION: Scientists at the Vector research center in the Novosibirsk region of Siberia are analysing the remains of mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses together with other ice age animals to find and revive prehistoric paleoviruses.

Russians searching for a 400,000 year old prehistoric paleovirus in Siberia (BIOLOGICAL WARFARE?)
Photo: Semyon Grigoryev/NEFU

Some of these viruses have been in the permafrost of their area for 200,000-400,000 years. A professor from the National Center of Scientific Research at the University of Aix Marseille, Jean-Michel Claverie, said:

"The Vector research is very, very risky. Our immune systems have never encountered these types of viruses. Some of them could be 200,000 or even 400,000 years old".

He said that these viruses that killed the mammoths and other prehistoric animals would be able to infect humans. In other words they are zoonotic.

It's noteworthy that the Vector state research center of virology and biotechnology is one of 59 maximum-security bar labs in the world. It is a former Soviet biological weapons laboratory.

It is only one of two bio centres that are allowed to keep samples of the deadly smallpox virus. The other is in the United States. The Vector center has a relatively poor reputation because of a number of accidents occurring at the facility.

In 2019 a fire broke out at the facility which is heavily guarded. The fire injured a worker and shattered windows. There were fears that the public would be exposed to deadly pathogens.

In 2000 for a researcher died when she accidentally pricked herself with a needle containing the Ebola virus.

Finally, the laboratory is inspected every two years by the World Health Organisation but, in 2019 the team from the World Health Organisation were unable to observe the researchers conducting practical work because it was closed for scheduled maintenance ostensibly.

The most recent report is dated 2019.

The French have also been involved in similar projects concerning paleoviruses but there's a difference. Last month, in 2022, French scientists announced that they had revived a zombie virus which had been under a lake bed in Yakutia for 50,000 years. However, they were focusing on amoeba-infecting viruses which are almost no danger to humans.

The concern here, as I read the report in The Times is that the Russians are digging up frozen mammoths in order to try and find a virus that can be used against their perceived enemies in biowarfare.

This is a reasonable supposition bearing in mind Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the barbaric, murderous way he is killing civilians in what are quite clearly war crimes.

They want to awaken dormant ancient viruses to further terrorise the world. That is my personal thought on this report.

Forgive me for not discussing cats on this occasion. Although this story does indirectly relate to domestic cats because, for the obvious reason, if people are killed then their cat companions are also killed if they have them. And anything which can harm people in large numbers can also harm domestic cat companions. There is a direct connection.

Wednesday, 22 June 2022

Polio is back in the UK but it cannot be transmitted to animals

Polio is not zoonotic meaning that it cannot be transmitted from person to animal and vice versa. However, that a report today in the online news media saying that polio is back in the UK and it has been declared a national incident because it is the first time it has been found to exist in the UK for nearly 40 years. 

Girl has polio
Girl has polio. Photo: Courtesy of the Boston Children's Hospital

They believe that the poliovirus came from a live vaccine given to a person living abroad. They came to this country and the poliovirus was in their faeces. This latest virus apparently has mutated over time and is now classified as a "vaccine-derived" poliovirus type II which behaves more like a wild polio. 

They picked up the virus in sewage I understand. Most people in the UK are vaccinated against polio as I understand it. I certainly am out but I am 73 years old.

On the rare occasions that it can infect the spinal cord and the base of the brain it causes paralysis, normally in the legs, which develops over hours or days. Sometimes the breathing muscles are affected which can make it life-threatening.

To someone like me, polio is something which we never consider at all. The UK was proclaimed to be polio-free in 2003 and the last wild case was detected in 1986. Let's just say that it has not been around in the UK for a very long time which is why people forget about it. In turn, that is why this information is a little bit surprising or even shocking to some people.

But the reason why I am posting it on this website is because people who have domestic cats need to be reassured that it is not transmittable to cats and vice versa.

Wednesday, 10 November 2021

Dr Amy Wilson, veterinarian and ecologist wants to limit free-roaming cats to protect wildlife

Professor Amy Wilson's research concluded that domestic cats are likely to blame for the spread of toxoplasma gondii to wildlife in urban areas where there are lots of cats. The researchers examined 45,079 cases of toxoplasmosis in wild animals. They found a correlation between the density of humans in urban areas and the likelihood of infection of the toxoplasmosis in wildlife. That is: the more dense the human population the more likely wild animals will be infected by zoonotic diseases such as toxoplasma gondii.

Professor Dr Amy Wilson veterinarian and ecologist
Professor Dr Amy Wilson veterinarian and ecologist. Photo: her bio page online.

Dr Wilson blames free-roaming domestic cats and feral cats for the 'most likely cause of the infections'.

She says that her research is "significant because by simply limiting free-roaming of cats, we can reduce the impact of Toxoplasma on wildlife.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: It Is Time to Stop Denigrating the Domestic Cat with Spurious Links between Toxoplasmosis and Human Mental Health

She states that one cat can excrete 500 oocysts in 14 days. But it should be noted this happens once in a cat's lifetime (my comment). 

"These infective oocysts are only passed for a very short time after initial exposure" (Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook).

But these tough eggs can live for 5 years in soil where they can infect animals and humans. Humans and animals have to ingest the oocysts.

ASSOCIATED: Truth about Toxoplasmosis and Cats

A lot has been written about toxoplasmosis. A lot of it derogatory for the cat. It is nearly always asymptomatic in cats and humans. When the immune system is compromised it can cause ill-health.

Professor Wilson also says that maintaining healthy habitats and ecosystems helps to protect wildlife. She said:

"We know that when wetlands are destroyed or streams are restricted, we are more likely to experience runoff that carries more pathogens into the waters where wild animals drink or live. And when their habitats are healthy, wildlife thrives and tends to be more disease-resistant."

The study: "Human density is associated with the increased prevalence of a generalist zoonotic parasite in mammalian wildlife” by Amy G. Wilson, Scott Wilson, Niloofar Alavi and David R. Lapen, 20 October 2021, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Link: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1724

Thursday, 28 January 2021

Domestic cats and dogs may have to be vaccinated in the future against Covid-19 to protect people

This is a quick note but one worth making nonetheless. I think I can predict that in the long term, perhaps in about 18 months to 2 years time, governments in various countries, perhaps predominantly in the West, will be thinking about vaccinating companion animals as a second phase protective measure against Covid-19. 

This is because there is a concern among some scientists that animals may create a reservoir for mutant variants of the Covid-19 virus. As the virus is zoonotic it can theoretically and actually be transmitted from animals to people and this must apply also to companion animals.

Danish mink farmer with white mink due to be euthanised. Photo per credit


Perhaps because of the general panicked nature of governmental responses to the coronavirus pandemic, not enough work has been done on this aspect of the spread of the disease. In addition nobody wants to alarm anybody which may lead to companion animal abuse. In fact, in China, at the outset of the pandemic, there were indeed abuses of animals with some highly irresponsible owners throwing their cats out of high-rise windows. That was quite shocking but it does indicate what might happen when panic takes hold.

Experts at the University of East Anglia have suggested in the journal Virulence that the evolution of the virus in animals may pose a risk to the public in the long term. Everything I've read thus far about companion animals transmitting the disease to their owners has been very low-key. They say there is no evidence that it happens which is good to hear. But the truth of the matter is that not enough research has been done on this. Let's remind ourselves that the pandemic started by the virus being transmitted from an animal to a person.

There is no reason why companion animals can't transmit the disease to people in the home. The Prof of evolutionary genetics at the University of East Anglia said that dogs and cats can contract Covid-19 but there is no known cases of infection of humans by companion animal.

Despite the low key nature of this possibility, governments need to be alert to it and although it's too early now to be thinking about this, in the long term there will, I would suggest, be a need to address a vaccine for animals. 

It is known that domestic cats have caught the disease but they are largely asymptomatic or the symptoms are at a very low level. This, in fact, points to a need to research the difference between companion animals and people. The disease kills people. We are all painfully aware of that, but the symptoms are very low level in animals. Why is this? Research is required.

A classic example of how a mutation of the virus in animals can pose a threat to humans comes from Denmark. Denmark euthanised 17 million farmed mink last year after it emerged that hundreds of cases in humans were linked to a mutated variant in farmed mink of the Covid-19 virus. Denmark is the world's major exporter of mink pelts and is a major supplier to China. The Denmark mink culling cost, as I recall, about €2 billion in compensation to the farmers. Denmark should take the opportunity to close the mink farming business for good. It is highly abusive of animals.

The story indicates how fears can build up about animals forming a reservoir for the disease especially a mutated version of it.

Thursday, 19 November 2020

Covid-19: potential human-cat-human transmission chain

Research needs to be carried out to look at in detail the potential for a human-cat-human transmission chain with respect to Covid-19. This is because recent research studies published from Kansas State University has confirmed that domestic cats can be asymptomatic carriers of the virus. We actually know this already but as I understand that this is more recent research.

Cats and people wear facemasks in 1918 during Spanish Flu pandemic. Picture: Dan Eskenazi.

LINK TO STORY BEHIND IMAGE ABOVE.

The researchers say that Covid-19 is being transmitted, and can be transmitted, from human patients to cats both domestic and captive large cats such as lions and tigers. Because of the obvious close association between humans and companion cats there is a question to be answered about whether cats can transmit the disease to people. Logic dictates that it does happen. This is been a question, actually, for quite a long time and until now and even today nobody can answer that question with any conviction or in any detail.

Jürgen A. Richt, the Regents distinguished professor at Kansas State University in the College of Veterinary Medicine, said that, "This efficient transmission between domestic cats indicates a significant animal and public health need to investigate a potential human-cat-human transmission chain".

He is referring to the fact that their research indicates that cats transmit the disease between themselves through the nasal, oral and rectal cavities and this transmission can take place within two days.

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Can I get Aids from my cat?

I don't think this is a very serious question today because people normally know that you can't get Aids from your cat because they are a different species of virus and the feline Aids virus is not transmittable to people i.e. it is not a zoonotic. Having got that out of the way, in the early part of the 1990s, as I understand it, there was a scare concerning feline Aids which led to the needless killing of a large number of healthy household cats.

Photo: Richmond SPCA

At that time the disease was new to people and some believed that if a cat got feline Aids (feline immunodeficiency virus-FIV) they could transmit it to their human caregiver. Apparently when newspapers in California reported that some domestic cats had been identified as carrying the Aids virus many cat owners panicked and had their cat euthanised. They feared that if their cat scratched them they'd get it. Veterinarians and cat sanctuaries were flooded with requests to have their cats destroyed or to have them rehomed. In every case the fears were unfounded. Panic: a symptom of human nature.

FIV-positive cats can live good and enjoyable lives

Nowadays people are far more knowledgeable about FIV. The next important point to make about this disease is that cats can live very good and enjoyable lives even if they have it. There are some websites dedicated to information on this subject. The disease is only contagious to other cats and it is difficult to transmit. With few exceptions, the disease is transmitted through a cat bite as the virus is present in the cat's saliva. On rare occasions offspring can get the virus from their mother.

You should never euthanise a cat infected with FIV unless the disease has made them very ill and it would be humane to euthanise the cat for chronic health issues. Your veterinarian will advise on that.

Cats infected with FIV normally appear to be completely okay. FIV cats are very adoptable and as mentioned there are websites on this subject. Some very kind people do adopt them and give them pleasant lives.

Cats with the virus are called FIV-positive. They might show no signs of illness and it may be years before clinical signs are evident if at all.

FIV-positive cats can share their lives with dog safety. As I said, this is not a zoonotic disease and therefore it can't be transmitted between different species and therefore it can't be transmitted to a dog from a cat.

FIV-positive cats can develop secondary infections and it is these infections that might be life-threatening. They can also develop various forms of cancer, kidney failure, blood diseases which may threaten their lives.

Thursday, 10 September 2020

Early Chinese study in Wuhan found 15% of tested cats had been exposed to Covid-19

NEWS AND ANALYSIS: An early study on domestic, abandoned, hospitalised and shelter cats in Wuhan by scientists from the Huazhong Agricultural University found that 15% of the cats had antibodies to Covid-19. This means that they had been exposed to the virus because their bodies had created antibodies to defend them. 11 of the cats had neutralising antibodies meaning that they had blocked the infection.

Wuhan during the early stages of the pandemic indicating that residents had abandoned homes and pets

None of the cats tested positive for the virus but they had been exposed to it which is why they had created antibodies. The sample of 102 cats included 41 from five hospitals, three from animal shelters and 45 abandoned cats. 15 of the cats were from families i.e. they were domestic cats in a home.

Three of the cats with the highest levels of antibodies were owned cats. The researchers decided that some of the cats had been affected by other cats from those that had been abandoned or were in pet hospitals. Owned cats had got the disease from their owners it is suggested. None of the cats displayed obvious symptoms and none of them died.

They concluded that these cats got the infection from an environment that had been "polluted" with the Covid-19 virus.

The research is not that significant in my opinion. We know that domestic cats can get the virus from humans but we don't know whether domestic and feral cats are a danger to people in terms of their ability to spread the disease back to people. They say that precautions should be taken. The only interesting aspect of this study is the percentage of cats that had caught or been exposed to the virus which is much higher than previously thought.

Source: Hindustan Times online via a wire feed.

Friday, 28 March 2014

People Getting TB from Their Cats

The world's first 2 cases of people getting tuberculosis (TB) from their domestic cats have just been recorded in Berks, UK. This is a transmission of bovine TB to a person from their cat who possibly was bitten by a badger or a rat that was infected. This is a bacterial infection. So the way a cat could transmit TB to her human companion would be that the bacteria in the cat is absorbed into the person through a cut on the person.

It seems that the cat is an intermediary. Clearly the cat would have to be an outdoor/indoor cat. As it happens, a lot of cats in the UK are indoor/outdoor cats. However, it will be a very rare incident for a cat to inflect his caretaker with TB. It has been known for some time that bovine TB is transmissible from animal to human and from animal species to different animal species. This is called a zoonotic disease.

However, an actual case, as far as I'm aware, has never been recorded until now. Apparently, a veterinarian noticed a cluster of cats who had been diagnosed with TB which made him ask some questions and referred the matter to a higher authority whereupon the people connected with the infected cats were screened for TB. Two people were found to have TB and 2 more are suspected of contracting TB. Apparently, one cat is connected to 3 of these people.

I do not believe that this is a big news story in reality. It is the kind of story that the newspapers like to publicise. It is and will be all over the online press the next few days and it has already been on UK television. But in reality, it doesn't change anything on the ground between cat and human caretaker. I suspect nothing will happen. People and cat will carry on as before. This is because the chances of catching TB from your cat are so rare that it can be ignored in my opinion. I will certainly ignore it. That said I am living in London, there are very few badgers around here and my cat hardly goes out! However there are rats in London and rats can also transmit the disease to the domestic cat.

The problem, then, is not whether a person becomes infected with TB because of their cat but the possible wider consequences. The 1st is that the UK is currently going through a badger cull. The intention is to reduce the numbers of cattle contracting TB from badgers. The farmers want this. Animal-rights people and people who like animals do not want to see badgers killed in their thousands just for the possibility that it may reduce TB in a farmer's cattle. In any event, vaccinating badgers is quite possibly a far better way of managing TB in badgers.

It is probably almost certain that the badger culls will be extended because of this recent case of 2 people being infected. That would upset me personally.

Secondly, there are many people who dislike cats and actually hate cats and they will no doubt use this story as ammunition to attack the cat, to say how useless the domestic cat is and how the domestic cat spreads disease etc etc. They will most likely try and kill more cats than usual. Some of these cat haters like to shoot or poison them with mothballs or antifreeze and so on. It is quite disgusting and criminal.

The problem, therefore, for me is that there is always a need to raise the profile of the cat, to make the cat more attractive to everyone for the sake of the cat's welfare. If everyone liked the domestic cat and the stray cat they would respect the animal more and treat the animal better.

It has just occurred to me, that there may be a bit of a conspiracy going on here. In England there is a huge debate about whether the culling of badgers is a good thing and whether it will work. I'm being mischievous but I wonder if somebody dreamt up the idea that if it could be shown that a person was infected by their cat with the TB bacteria and the cat was similarly infected by a badger it would strengthen the case for the culling of badgers in large numbers because not only would cattle be at risk but people also. In the world of politics and big business anything is possible and I wouldn't put it past them to dream up such a devious plan.

It is worth mentioning, that these days TB can be treated with antibiotics. It is a long course of treatment but by and large effective although apparently some strains of the infection are resistant. I'm not sure about the science of this but some types of bacteria become resistant to antibiotics if they are overused.

[This post was dictated by Dragon Dictate and sent to this blog by e-mail using Blogger's e-mail publication process. There may be some typos as a consequence for which I will apologise in advance!]

Featured Post

i hate cats

i hate cats, no i hate f**k**g cats is what some people say when they dislike cats. But they nearly always don't explain why. It appe...

Popular posts