Two Thai cats die of bird flu

Two domestic cats in Thailand have died of the same bird flu that has killed 22 people in Asia, according to scientists.

Two domestic cats in Thailand have died of the same bird flu that has killed 22 people in Asia, according to scientists.The disease’s spread into cats increases fears that the virus can move between species as easily as it has between countries.Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has urged pet lovers in Thailand to stay calm but said they should think twice before feeding stray or domestic animals with potentially infected meat.”Please don’t panic,” Mr Thaksin said. “If animals eat raw, infected chicken, they will have no immunity.”Please do not feed your animals uncooked chicken.”With the human death toll from the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus standing at 22 in Vietnam and Thailand, attention has switched to the number of different species it is able to infect.At present, H5N1 appears to spread easily only among birds but health experts fear it might mate with another animal or human flu virus to produce a highly contagious and deadly variant that could unleash a global human flu pandemic.Domestic animals, big cats:The two dead cats were among 15 cats tested from a house near an infected chicken farm in Nakorn Pathom, 60 kilometres west of Bangkok.They are the first cases of the virus to be found in domestic animals.Teerapol Sirinaruemit, a veterinarian at Kasetsart University’s animal hospital who conducted the autopsies, said: “They might have caught the virus from eating chicken carcasses or from live chickens that had bird flu.”The H5N1 strain showed this week it can jump to other species after a rare clouded leopard at a zoo near Bangkok was confirmed as having died of bird flu.Reports this month that the virus had spread to pigs, which have an immune system similar to humans, turned out to be false.Bjorn Melgaard, the World Health Organisation’s Thailand representative, said: “Clearly the more animal species that are infected with the avian flu virus, the bigger is the risk to humans they may catch the virus from animals.”We need to be very, very watchful.”Precautions:As word spread, the Health Ministry said it had sent officials to check on anybody who had been in contact with the dead cats.Pet owners took immediate precautions, switching meals from cooked chicken to beef.Paranyoo Sukkasean, a 34-year-old nurse who spends $650 a month on food for her own seven cats and the 100 stray dogs in her Bangkok neighbourbood, said: “Steak has become my cats’ daily meal these days.”Although Thai cats are far from spoiled felines, thousands of strays live cheek-by-jowl with humans in semi-domestication in impoverished rural and urban areas, especially around temples.Professor Thaneerat Santiwat, dean of Kasetsart University’s veterinary faculty, said that if the public took suitable precautions, the dangers of a wider outbreak could be minimised.”Although the virus can spread to cats, which can easily catch flu, it is controllable,” he said.”Don’t let your cats eat dead chicken carcasses, dead birds, or any dead animals found in infected areas.”(Source: ABC Health News, Reuters Health, Feb 2004)