Bird flu kills more than half the big cats at a Washington sanctuary

[wnylib]

1. All species of cats are vulnerable to flu viruses, including domestic pet cats.

Cats are also vulnerable to the coronavirus responsible for covid. Some domestic cats caught it during the pandemic. Usually their cases were milder than human cases.

This avian flu H5N1 is more lethal to cats than covid. Good idea to keep pets inside, away from birds and other wild animals that might be infected with the virus.

Human cases have been mild until recently when one person developed a severe case and is hospitalized. The report that I read said that he had other, contributing health problems.

So far, H5N1 is not passing from human to human. Infected people are getting it from close contact with infected animals, mostly chickens and cows on farms or from drinking raw milk. But, if it mutates to a form that can be transmitted from one person to another, we might see another viral pandemic.