Keep your dogs on a leash and cats indoors, pet owners told amid unprecedented bird flu outbreak 

Health
By Liam

Keep your dogs on leashes and cats indoors, pet owners told amid unprecedented avian flu outbreak

By John Ely Senior Health Reporter for Mailonline

Updated:

Cats should be kept indoors and dogs on a lead – if you want to protect them from bird flu, European health chiefs have warned.

The global bird flu outbreak has devastated both domestic and wild birds, causing millions of deaths in 67 countries, including the UK.

Scientists have also sounded the alarm about bird flu deaths among wild mammals, such as foxes, which can contract the virus by hunting sick birds or scavenging the dead.

Now the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has urged pet owners to keep their cats indoors and dogs on a leash while walking to avoid the same risks.

The warning was prompted by a spate of cats in Poland that tested positive for avian flu in June, with 9 dying as a result.

Keep your furious friends locked up or on a leash to protect them from bird flu. European health chiefs have warned

This map shows all known cases of non-human mammals infected with bird flu since 2016, stars indicate events leading to deaths from the virus

This map shows all known cases of non-human mammals infected with bird flu since 2016, stars indicate events leading to deaths from the virus

While the source of the outbreak has yet to be confirmed, European health chiefs noted that about half of the cats had been fed raw poultry by their owners, which could have transmitted the virus to the felines.

No cat-to-cat or cat-to-human transmission of avian flu has yet been confirmed in the cases, the officials added.

Another study, this time from an avian flu-infected farm in Italy, also found five dogs and cats there had antibodies to the disease.

EFSA said: ‘It is recommended to avoid exposure of domestic cats and dogs, and carnivorous pets in general, to dead or diseased animals (mammals and birds), and to prevent domestic cats and dogs from consuming offal and raw meat from wild or farmed animals. feeding birds.’

It added: ‘Possible measures include keeping dogs on a leash and confining cats indoors in areas where extensive spread of HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1) viruses in wild birds has been confirmed.’

Genetic analysis of both the Polish and Italian outbreaks showed that the highly contagious bird flu strain that was spreading around the world, called HPAI A(H5N1), was responsible.

A National Trust ranger clears dead birds from Staple Island, Northumberland, during an outbreak of avian flu last July

A National Trust ranger clears dead birds from Staple Island, Northumberland, during an outbreak of avian flu last July

British scientists charged with developing 'early human transmission scenarios' of bird flu have warned that 5 per cent of people infected could die if the virus takes off in humans (shown in scenario three). In another scenario, the scientists assumed that 1 percent of those infected would be hospitalized and 0.25 percent would die — similar to how deadly Covid was in the fall of 2021 (scenario one). The other saw a 2.5 percent mortality rate (scenario two)

British scientists charged with developing ‘early human transmission scenarios’ of bird flu have warned that 5 per cent of people infected could die if the virus takes off in humans (shown in scenario three). In another scenario, the scientists assumed that 1 percent of those infected would be hospitalized and 0.25 percent would die — similar to how deadly Covid was in the fall of 2021 (scenario one). The other saw a 2.5 percent mortality rate (scenario two)

Health chiefs said this could indicate the virus is adapting to better infect mammals.

This, EFSA added, affected not only wildlife, but also pets, and by extension their owners.

“Pets infected with HPAI A (H5N1) virus may pose a potential risk of exposure to other animals and pet owners,” they said.

EFSA also recommended further health monitoring of pets in areas with a high incidence of avian flu and for avian flu testing of pet owners exposed to infected dogs and cats.

People in the UK have been advised not to touch dead or sick wild birds and to wash their hands thoroughly if necessary to reduce the risk of contracting the disease.

There is no official guidance or advice in Britain regarding the interaction of cats or dogs with wild birds, similar to EFSA’s recommendations.

UK health authorities have maintained that the overall risk to humans from avian influenza remains low.

However, scientists fear that if bird flu ever makes the leap to humans, it could kill up to one in 20 people infected, according to models by British experts.

Bird flu outbreak: everything you need to know

What is it?

Bird flu is a contagious form of flu that spreads among birds.

In rare cases, it can be transmitted to humans through close contact with a dead or live infected bird.

This includes touching infected birds, their droppings or bedding. Humans can also get bird flu if they kill or prepare infected poultry to eat.

Wild birds are carriers, especially through migration.

As they clump together to reproduce, the virus quickly spreads and is then carried to other parts of the world.

New species usually appear first in Asia, from where more than 60 species of shorebirds, waders and waterfowl migrate to Alaska to mingle with migratory birds from the US. Others go west and infect European species.

Which species are currently proliferating?

H5N1 and H3N8.

So far, as of September 2021, the H5N1 virus has been detected worldwide in some 80 million birds and poultry – double the previous record set the previous year.

Not only is the virus spreading rapidly, it is also killing at an unprecedented level, leading some experts to say it is the deadliest strain yet.

Millions of chickens and turkeys in the UK have been culled or quarantined.

But earlier this year, on March 27, the World Health Organization (WHO) also learned that a Chinese woman was the first person ever to die from the H3N8 strain.

The 56-year-old woman from southern Guangdong province was the third person known to be infected with the H3N8 subtype of avian influenza, according to WHO.

Although rare in humans, H3N8 is common in birds, but it causes little to no signs of disease.

It has also infected other mammals.

Can bird flu infect humans?

Yes, but since 2003 only 873 human cases of bird flu have been reported to the World Health Organization.

The risk to humans is estimated to be ‘low’.

But people are urged not to touch sick or dead birds because the virus is deadly, killing 56 percent of people it manages to infect.

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