LA County warns bird flu is killing cats as human cases top 65 nationwide

[marmar]

(Salon) The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has issued a warning about bird flu, caused by the virus H5N1, that is killing domestic cats. On Dec. 20, the agency reported that five, indoor-only cats died after consuming raw milk that was part of a recall. The agency is also investigating a separate case, also in LA County, concerning a cat that has "tested presumptive positive for H5 bird flu after consuming two different brands of raw pet food composed of raw poultry and raw beef."

“The risk of H5 bird flu remains low in Los Angeles County, but these confirmed cases of the virus in pet cats are a reminder that consuming raw dairy and meat products can lead to severe illness in cats," said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in a press release. “To avoid the spread of disease, including H5 bird flu, we strongly encourage residents and their pets to avoid raw dairy and undercooked meat products, limit contact with sick or dead animals, report sick or dead birds and keep pets or poultry away from wild animals and birds.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, the cats’ symptoms appeared between 8 to 12 days after consuming the raw milk. They had signs of liver damage and yellowing of the eyes and gums. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/12/24/la-county-warns-bird-flu-is-cats-as-human-cases-top-65-nationwide/?in_brief=true

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Here's to RFK Jr. Have a glass of raw milk.

[Linda ladeewolf]

10. Don't forget

Leon!

[Roxi]

2. Sadly

I think we are facing another pandemic, and this one could be far worse than Covid.

Personally, I’m going to start quietly stockpiling masks and other supplies.

My kitties are strictly indoor cats, and we never give them any kind of milk, but this not the first article I’ve read about cats being highly susceptible to this virus.

I’m afraid of what’s coming.

[Lyourell]

4. Masks

I'm wondering what would be a good way to prepare in advance for a potentially growing out of control epidemic/pandemic. How, exactly is this spread? Would masks be useful? Or not necessary? Is this an easily spread disease? Would avoiding raw and undercooked beef and poultry products and eggs be enough? I have a tiny flock of hens (2) that are older and just sort of retired in their backyard coop. Occasionally there's an egg in the nest. How do I know whether the eggs are safe to eat? So many questions! And what I'm looking for is direction to someone who would be able to answer - and maybe my state's public health agency?

[niyad]

6. Welcome to our DU family.

[Lyourell]

9. Thank you

Thank you. And I guess I answered my own question! I searched online and found Wisconsin's Health Dept and they have a fair amount of info on this. Apparently, goats were found to be infected in Minnesota after some kids died. They had shared space with infected birds. I have goats, too. I don't milk them anymore and they're not near my hens, though wild birds nest in the barn.
They said on the website to be very cautious around "droppings". We have a lot of that! So, masks, gloves, hand washing...and now I wonder about using it on the garden. And I wonder if we shall even have a National Health Department or State for the next 4 years. Seriously.
Thank you again.

[Meowmee]

26. It is spread to people by contact and aerosol, as well as through raw milk so far apparently link posted

Last edited Thu Dec 26, 2024, 04:15 AM - Edit history (4)

I don't think anyone has contracted it from drinking raw milk yet, but it was found in raw milk. But cats apparently have been infected from raw milk.


"One problem is that experts are still learning how bird flu is transmitted. “We understand much less about H5N1 transmission than we do about COVID,” Dr. Roberts says. But most people infected with bird flu get it from unprotected contact with infected birds, according to the CDC. The agency adds that infection also can happen when people inhale the virus in droplets or dust from the infected animals, or touch a contaminated surface.

The CDC has a list of recommended precautions, including:

Avoid sick or dead birds. Check with your state or local government about their policy for reporting wild birds and other animals that look sick or are dead. Avoid wild birds even if they don’t look sick, since they can have an infection without symptoms.
Don’t touch surfaces or materials that could be contaminated. That includes animal litter or feces, mucus, raw milk, or saliva.
Avoid poultry farms and bird markets. If you must visit those places, wear a well-fitting face mask and don’t touch the animals.
Use the following protective measures if you are unable to avoid contact with wild birds or sick or dead animals:
Wear gloves and, after removing them, wash your hands properly.
Wear an N95 respirator or a well-fitting mask.
Use eye protection, such as goggles.
It’s important to throw away your gloves and face mask after any exposure."

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/h5n1-bird-flu-what-to-know#:~:text=One%20problem%20is%20that%20experts,eye%20protection%2C%20such%20as%20goggles.

http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/vet/docs/AHAN/AHAN_H5BirdFluConfirmed4CatsRecalledRawMilk_PresumptivePositiveCatRawDiet_12202024.pdf

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/phcommon/public/media/mediapubhpdetail.cfm?prid=4918#:~:text=Public%20Health%20recently%20confirmed%20H5,part%20of%20an%20ongoing%20investigation.

* I just watched a video from a doc who says bird flus do not transmit easily from an infected person to other people via aerosol, hopefully he is right. It has been reported in people exposed to the infected birds/animals who have been infected so far. I think there were at least two strains in the past that did transmit more though and which were severe- A H5N1 was one, A H7N9 was the other.... but deaths were around 464 out of 948 reported cases from H5N1, with a 52% mortality rate from 2003-24. This current strain is A H5.. actually I think it is just a different strain of the same H5N1 that originated in China in 1996 or so.

The H1N1strain in 2009 which originated from pigs was much worse and spread between people easily. The most deadly flu H1N1 strain was the 2018 so called Spanish Flu which killed about 50 million worldwide with about 500 million cases worldwide. Both were very contagious and spread easily through aerosol. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic killed about 249 thousand world wide with 60 million cases maybe.

For covid which was highly contagious, transmitted primarily through aerosol, there were 7,010,681 deaths so far as of April 13, 2024, and 704,753,890 confirmed cases. I don't know how accurate the covid deaths and cases are since many were not properly recorded here due to what happened.

The mortality rate may be less because there may have been milder cases that weren't reported. The doctor in this video also said that vaccination for this year's seasonal flu could also help prevent a severe case of bird flu if you are unlucky enough to be infected. But cats were infected from raw milk with severe cases. You can't be infected from pasteurized milk or properly cooked eggs and meat etc.

Here is another source on person to person spread:

The spread of avian flu virus from one infected person to another is very rare. When it happens, it usually only spreads to a few people.

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/influenza/maineflu/avian-flu.shtml#:~:text=The%20spread%20of%20avian%20flu,spreads%20to%20a%20few%20people.

[wnylib]

27. I read an article recently which said that

epidemiologists are trying to determine how this flu is spreading, i.e. whether it is airborne, spread by fomites (touching infected surfaces), bodily fluids, etc. Sorry, but I don't have a link or remember the source.

It said that there is no definitive decision on it yet, but consuming infected meat is one way. Drinking raw milk from infected cows is another way. Pasteurization and thorough cooking of meat destroy the virus.

But what about butchers who handle the raw meat? Restaurant cooks and chefs who handle it? People at home in their kitchens who prepare raw chicken and beef from the grocery store to cook for themselves and their families? Do they pick it up from handling infected meat? What about their countertops, cooking utensils, sinks?

Wild birds that get into zoo enclosures have killed other birds and large wild cats, possibly from bird droppings?

The article also reported that veterinarians and state health officials observed farm practices to see how the bird flu might be spreading among cows and from cows to humans. They suggested that new cows added to a herd might be contaminated but not yet showing symptoms. But how does the virus spread between them?

Farm workers might be contributing to the spread of the virus among cows through equipment that is not sterilized between uses. Individual hand milkers use a cloth to dry the udders and use the same cloth to wipe sweat or moisture from their faces. They carry the same cloth from one cow to the next. Milk can splash onto them from the containers. Their hands are contaminated from touching the cows' udders. If they wear gloves, they would have to change them between cows, but they don't.

Indoor/outdoor pet cats hunt birds, even if well fed. Barn cats are exposed to infected cows.

Those are direct contact exposures. But epidemiologists don't know yet if someone who comes in direct contact with infected animals can leave an active virus on surfaces to be picked up by someone who touches the same surface later.

Most studies are looking at direct touch contamination. What about air droplets? Indirect exposure on surfaces?

[Linda ladeewolf]

11. Chickens

I recommend covering your chicken pen with tin on top and using fine mesh wire on the sides.
You want to limit their contact with wild birds. This is my plan for the spring. Covering it with tin will keep wild bird droppings out and finer meshes will keep the birds from getting in at all.

[Nasruddin]

18. So far

It's spread poorly to humans and apparently by raw milk to cats and maybe humans. So far.

Typically flu spreads in droplets in the air much like COVID - so masks and air cleaning are important.
Also spreads by surfaces (fomites) probably more than COVID, so cleaning public use objects may be a good strategy.
(Ie back to cleaning "fomites&quot .
Many humans infected are infected in the eye and get a kind of conjunctivitis. I don't know whether that's aerosol or by hand transfer.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

21. Welcome to DU

I am still wearing a mask at the grocery store and other public places.

[marble falls]

28. Good rule of thumb: smaller the herd, smaller the risk. An egg from home flock is going to be safe. ...

... fun fact: a 'dirty' egg doesn't need to be kept refrigerated. Clean eggs do.

[Oneear]

3. Make Cats Healthy Again feed them Pasteurized Milk again

Safe, Healthy Food for Humans and Pets & Animals Safe Food Handling

[bluestarone]

5. I say, make RAW MILK the national drink for ALL MAGA's

Hell i bet they are ALL dumb enough to toast each other!!

[LisaL]

7. RFKjr wants all of us to drink raw milk.

I say, he should start first.

[bluestarone]

8. Yep, like i'm thinking a

GALLON a day!!

[Otto_Harper]

13. Back about 20 years ago

when H5N1 first appeared and it was thought to present a major risk of being a human pandemic, there was an on-line community (Fluwiki) in which the hive mind gathered, organized information about the flu and how to deal with and prepare for it. It might be appropriate for a site such as DU form the nucleus of such an effort yet again.

(I would never have come up with a novel vector, such as Food Superstitionists, but, I think they will be an effective means of spreading the virus. Time to update the preps.)

[littlemissmartypants]

14. Great.

[AverageOldGuy]

15. In Alabama

We had lunch few days ago with daughter's sorority sister and her family who were here from Alabama in VA visiting relatives.

Her father (age 84) lives in Cullman AL, chicken capitol of Alabama, possibly of the world. He said the chicken farmers there have had to destroy some moderate number of birds but they are holding their breath because if they are hit the same as California and western chicken growers, some will go bankrupt while the cost of chicken and eggs will go through the roof (his words).

Think about this: 50,000 chickens to one big chicken house. Decent size chicken farm will have 20 or more houses. A hatching will mature in 10-12 weeks. That's 20 X 50,000 = 1 million birds every 10-12 weeks. I read last week of a chicken farm in Arizona that destroyed 760,000 birds one week. The scope of this avian flu is unbelievable.

When it jumps to humans, Trump and RFK Jr will ensure that we all are vaccinated against avian flu. Right?

[Otto_Harper]

16. I was going to answer your question with

"When pigs fly", but then again,pigs are another susceptible species, so, we really don't want them flying around with the wild birds and then returning to the farm.

[keep_left]

17. No, of course the Trump regime won't do the right thing. His MAGA chuds...

...have made it clear that they're going to "ride or die" (mostly die) on the vaccines-as-culture-war thing. Remember when Trump tried to take credit for his moronic "Operation Warp Speed" vaccine program, and his fans nearly booed him off the stage? He tried it one more time, IIRC, and the reaction was even worse, so after that, vaccines were never mentioned again.

Trump did absolutely everything wrong about Covid, including concealing information (which he had obtained through intelligence briefings) about its lethality. Then when he contracted Covid through his own stupidity--probably at one of his idiotic rallies---he got absolutely heroic measures which saved his life, including at least 16 courses of Regeneron antibody treatment.

Because Trump turned Covid into another front in the culture war, soon the MAGA chuds got in on the action as well...Extremist radtrad Catholics disobeyed a direct order from their Pope to get vaccinated (it was a requirement for everyone at the Vatican!) and helped create one of the most ridiculous vaccine conspiracy theories ever ( "baby parts!" ).

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219490667#post23
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219331975#post15
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219331975#post29
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219331975#post30

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. Raw milk. Don't drink it.

[Aristus]

20. With any luck, another million MAGAts will rid us of their presence

by ignoring infection precautions and refusing vaccination.

If this sounds harsh coming from a medical provider, well, I’m human, too. And I’m tired of these idiots taking the advice of podcasting fratbros instead of listening to me, a trained, licensed, and experienced medical professional.

[Skittles]

22. I hate hearing "I'm doing some research"

the RESEARCH has already been done; what they need to do is EDUCATE themselves - by reading and taking the advice of MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, not rightwing hack sources or quacks like RFK Jr

[Aristus]

23. It's a testament to exactly how substandard a person's brain is

if they receive genuine gratification by watching a YouTube video and calling it ‘research.’

[Skittles]

25. a Trump humping neighbor

told me she didn't get Covid vax because she "doesn't know what's in it".......I pointed out to her that she had recently flown to California - I said, you didn't know the pilot's qualifications but you sill got on that plane..........she said, "I don't know his qualifications but SOMEONE does." I literally smacked my own forehead and said, "YOU'RE SO CLOSE.......SO CLOSE!"

[keep_left]

24. There's a well-known meme for that one...

...and you probably already know it!