The bird flu is spreading further and further. And not only birds get sick: the disease has also been detected in foxes and otters, and in Chile even in sea lions. Nine cats have already died from this virus in Poland.
Cats dead from bird flu in Poland | Photo: Ppublic domain
Since October 2021, about 6.9 million birds in the Netherlands have already been killed, mainly preventively. Most of these are chickens. Bird flu is also a major threat abroad. Wild birds also become infected and die. Cats are not birds, but they do eat birds. The nine cats that died in Poland were all tested for the H5N1 virus, the bird flu variant that is also prevalent in the Netherlands. It is not the first time that the avian flu virus has jumped to mammals. This has also happened before in the Netherlands. Nancy Beerens, bird flu expert:
“We first saw this last year when there was a massive outbreak of bird flu among wild birds. Then a number of mammals also became infected. That was 9 foxes, an otter, a badger and a number of polecats.”
Cats no exception
In other countries such as Asia and North America, mammals also become infected with this virus. It is already known that black bears, raccoons and seals can become infected. The number of animals that can become infected is therefore quite diverse. The question is how these animals became infected. In the example with the dead cats, it is still being investigated whether it is due to eating contaminated dead birds, or because they have infected each other. According to virologist Marion Koopmans, this is not yet entirely clear:
“That is an important difference. The second has not yet been seen, but is of course being investigated.”
Penguins and sea lions die from bird flu in Chile
Man is also a mammal
Prevention is better than cure. If you know you live in an area where bird flu is prevalent, it’s a good idea to keep your cat indoors. It is also better to keep dogs away from dead birds while walking. For humans, the risk is thought to be very small for now. That does not alter the fact that the virus can adapt or mutate so that it can become dangerous. You have already seen this happen in the poultry industry. Like the coronavirus, bird flu is a ‘zoonosis’: a disease that affects both animals and humans and can jump between the two. It is also wise for humans not to touch dead birds with your hands and to wash your hands if you have been in contact with animals.
How did bird flu originate?
To understand how contagious bird flu is, we first look at how this virus originated. Originally bird flu is a fairly harmless virus that almost only occurred in wild waterfowl. They didn’t get very sick. It was therefore spread via water. Meanwhile, due to mutations in the genetic material of the virus, this virus has become much worse and has now become a highly pathogenic bird flu virus.
Intensive livestock farming is the main source of this. The animals are so close together that the virus spreads very easily here. Because they are so close together, this can now be done without water. The virus has been given free rein, as it were.
‘Separate pigs and chickens against avian flu virus mutation’
Sources:
©AnimalsToday.nl Mariska van Geelen
2023-07-03 17:00:11
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