Twenty big cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu at an animal shelter in Shelton, Washington.
The deaths among big cats come as bird flu, a highly pathogenic bird flu, has spread rapidly among poultry flocks and dairy herds in the U.S., infecting and killing domestic cats and causing serious illness in a person in Louisiana.
The big cats died at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center between late November and mid-December, said the center’s director, Mark Mathews.
“We’ve never had anything like this before; they usually die basically of old age,” Mathews told the New York Times. “Nothing like that, it’s a pretty bad virus.”
Three other cats recovered from the virus, and one remained in critical condition Tuesday. Last week, the center announced on Facebook that bird flu had affected more than half of the wild cats.
That came less than three weeks after the center said it was temporarily closed to the public, saying some animals were suffering from an unknown illness.
“We, along with our veterinary team, are working tirelessly to determine the cause and come up with a solution,” the shelter wrote on Facebook.
But on Dec. 6, the center announced that animal health officials had confirmed the presence of bird flu in some of its cats, and said it was working with animal health officials at the federal, state and provincial levels.
“As an animal shelter, we are equipped to effectively manage viruses by enforcing strict biosecurity measures, quarantining and properly disinfecting affected animals to protect our other animals and the public,” the center said.
But five days ago, the center said in a Facebook post: “We are heartbroken to share that animal health officials have confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in more than half of our wild cats as of December 2024.”
The center explained that bird flu can also be contracted from carnivorous mammals that ingest infected birds or other products.
“Cats are particularly vulnerable to this virus, which can cause subtle initial symptoms but quickly worsen, often resulting in death within 24 hours from pneumonia-like conditions.” the statement saidadding that the center was under quarantine and will remain closed to the public until further notice.
Only 17 cats remain at the shelter as it moves to determine the origins of the virus, including removing 3,000 pounds of food stored in a freezer and disinfecting every habitat.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement that it had confirmed bird flu infections in ‘numerous’ wild birds this autumn, and recently confirmed that two pumas in another area had the H5N1 virus.
The deaths come six days after health officials in Los Angeles said they were investigating three domestic cats suspected of having bird flu, while officials confirmed the disease in two other cats that had drank and recalled raw milk and died.
At a dairy plant in Texas earlier this year, 12 barn cats died after drinking infected raw milk.
In California, bird flu is infected most of the state’s dairy herds this year, with cows in 645 dairy farms testing positive for H5N1. At least 61 human cases have been reported in the United States to date, with most individuals showing mild symptoms.