bird flu update -- feline infection in Germany

[lagilman]

BERLIN (AP) -- The deadly strain of bird flu was confirmed Tuesday in a cat in northern Germany, the first time the virus has been identified in a mammal in the 25 nations of the European Union.

The cat was on the northern island of Ruegen, where most of the more than 100 wild birds infected by the H5N1 strain were found, the Friedrich Loeffler institute said.

The cat was found dead over the weekend and then tested positive for H5N1, laboratory leader Thomas Mettenleiter said.

In Geneva, World Health Organization spokeswoman Maria Cheng said this was the first time she knows of an animal other than a bird being infected in Europe. Tigers and leopards were infected by H5N1 in Thailand, where they were fed chicken carcasses in a zoo.

read more here


Urk. *cuddles kittens until they squirm and go 'aw, mommmmmm....'

Comments

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, saw that piece in the NY Times this afternoon. Ick. Happy my kitties are indoor kitties and not in the habit of chomping on the local avian population. This does, though, put a damper on giving them unsupervised balcony time this summer. ::grrrrr::

[allaboutm-e.livejournal.com]

hmmmm -- this makes me more concerned by the birds that seem happy to hop around the yard well within the dogs' range, although theoretically still out of reach, because of the ability to fly...