Re: Cats infected by the dairy virus

On 8/23/2024 8:09 PM, RonO wrote:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird-flu-is-infecting-pet- cats-heres-what-you-need-to-know/
 Household pet cats not on dairy farms have been infected by the dairy virus in multiple states, but 2 cases in Colorado were indoor cats.  The possibility is that they may have been infected by humans.  It could be an indication that human infections are more widespread than they currently have identified.  Colorado has the most human cases detected so far, and the Colorado virus is most closely related in sequence to the one isolated from an infected Michigan dairy worker.  My guess is that humans took the dairy virus to Colorado because they were not reported to have gotten cattle from a known infected state, and the virus is most closely related to the one that infected a Michigan dairy worker.  No one is contact tracing, but an infected dairy worker or close contact of a dairy worker from Michigan is likely responsible for the Colorado infections.  How else did the Michigan strain get to Colorado and infect dairy herds there?
 Ron Okimoto
 

The cat infections were not discussed in the last CDC weekly update (8/15/2024), and the CDC missed their weekly update for this week, so there is no information on what the CDC is doing with the additional evidence of human transmission of the virus.
I would also note that multiple Florida poultry have recently been found to have H5N1 and the USDA and CDC still refuse to test Florida dairy herds for the virus.  It has been known since the first cases in Texas that poultry flocks get infected by infected dairy herds, likely via infected dairy workers.  It has been known since the FDA data in May that Florida was producing dairy virus positive milk samples, but the dairy industry wants to remain willfully ignorant and in denial.  There are a lot more states with positive herds that are not admitting to having them.  None of the dairy workers in Florida and these other states that refuse to test their herds are being protected from being infected.
Ron Okimoto