San Mateo County cat diagnosed with bird flu as CDC deletes evidence on possible feline-human transmission

San Mateo County nationalist wellness officials announced Thursday that they’d discovered a favored feline successful Half Moon Bay infected with H5N1 vertebrate flu. That comes conscionable 2 days aft they reported uncovering the microorganism successful a backyard poultry flock successful Redwood City.

The reports came connected the heels of a momentary Centers for Disease Control and Prevention merchandise of a array showing that an teen had perchance been infected with the microorganism by a favored cat. According to the New York Times, the accusation — which was released successful the agency’s archetypal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report since President Trump came to office, and which mostly focused connected California’s wildfires — was disposable “briefly” earlier disappearing.

The CDC did not respond to questions astir the data.

Seema Lakdawala, a microbiologist astatine Emory University successful Atlanta, said it would beryllium “premature to construe the information successful the array without speechmaking the afloat report” — a sentiment echoed by respective different scientists contacted by the Los Angeles Times to reappraisal the chart.

According to screenshots of a information array made disposable by the Washington Post, determination look to person been 2 households impacted by the virus, though determination were nary specifics to place wherever these infections occurred.

In Household 1, determination was initially 1 feline who became ill. Four days later, that feline died and tested affirmative for H5N1. On that aforesaid day, different feline successful the location besides got sick. Two days aft that — connected time six of the corruption successful the household —an teen surviving successful the location began to amusement symptoms. That kid tested antagonistic for the disease, arsenic did a symptomless big and a symptomless teen successful the house.

In Household 2 — which appears to beryllium connected with Household 1, though the specifics are vague — an big dairy workplace idiosyncratic began showing signs of unwellness 1 week aft the archetypal feline successful Household 1 started exhibiting symptoms. This idiosyncratic was not tested for the microorganism and was “lost to follow-up,” according to the CDC graphic. Two days later, a feline surviving successful Household 2 began to amusement symptoms. The adjacent day, the feline died and tested affirmative for H5N1. A 2nd feline successful Household 2 tested antagonistic for the disease.

The CDC array — since scrubbed from the tract — doesn’t supply immoderate accusation related to however the archetypal feline successful Household 1 was infected.

Lakdawala noted that portion nary of the radical and a fewer of the cats did not trial affirmative for the virus, “sometimes influenza nasal tests are antagonistic but determination whitethorn beryllium microorganism replicating elsewhere.” Indeed, since the H5N1 outbreak began, researchers person noted that swabs taken from 1 spot successful a idiosyncratic oregon cat’s body, specified arsenic the nasal passage, tin beryllium negative, portion taken from different part, specified arsenic the backmost of the throat, tin trial positive.

Asked if the lawsuit took spot successful California, wherever 36 of the 40 cases of H5N1 connected to dairy person occurred, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Public Health said her section “can lone talk to California cases” and that the state’s current presumption connected vertebrate flu is up to date. She said section officials were “not alert of immoderate confirmed quality cases of vertebrate flu successful California associated with vulnerability to home cats.”

Regardless, the study from San Mateo is concerning — adding to the increasing tally of household cats infected with H5N1.

H5N1 has been detected in much than a twelve California cats, including successful Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernadino, San Mateo counties and Tulare arsenic good arsenic scores crossed astatine slightest 17 different states, including Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

According to a connection from San Mateo County wellness officials, the feline was a stray that had been taken successful by a household successful Half Moon Bay. A region property merchandise states that erstwhile the feline began showing symptoms, household members took it to a veterinarian for introspection and testing. Lab results confirmed vertebrate flu and the feline was “euthanized owed to its condition.”

The region wellness officials stated they did not cognize however the feline was infected and did not picture the cat’s symptoms. There’s besides presently nary confirmation astir erstwhile household took successful the cat, nor what information it was successful astatine the clip of adoption.

Typically, symptoms of vertebrate flu successful cats see a nonaccomplishment of appetite, lethargy and fever, on with neurologic signs, specified arsenic repetitively moving astir successful circles oregon “circling,” tremors, seizures oregon blindness. Other symptoms see terrible depression; discharge from eyes oregon nose; rapid, shallow breathing, trouble breathing; and sneezing oregon coughing. Some cats volition die.

The San Mateo County connection besides referred readers to a CDC web leafage stating that “while it’s improbable that you would get sick with vertebrate flu done nonstop interaction with your infected pet, it is possible.”

The study of the infected feline successful San Mateo came 2 days aft the region reported a tiny outbreak successful a backyard poultry flock successful Redwood City — though determination were nary quality cases associated with that event.

In the statement, the region advised residents who support poultry flocks to ticker of signs of vertebrate flu and to instrumentality due measures — specified arsenic washing hands earlier and aft handling birds, and disinfecting footwear to trim the hazard of spreading vertebrate flu.