Can cats catch the new emerging influenza viruses (dog flu, bird flu)?

New and emerging diseases have become an increasing threat to global human and animal health. Why?

The risk of contacting previously hidden infectious agents increases significantly:

• As people extend their homes into the wilderness
• As people introduce pets and livestock into those areas
• As humans increase travel, and the speed of that travel
• As farming practices continue that result in close mixing of species (in home and farm)

This year, a new influenza virus has emerged in the US in dogs, and is now documented inat least some of the Eastern seabord states. Last year (2004), in the Florida greyhound racetracks, a novel virulent disease was diagnosed for the first time. It appears now that the equine influenza virus has jumped from horses to dogs. Equine influenza (horse flu) has been studied for the last 40 years, and until last year, was a horse-specific virus.

In the news, we now regularly hear of a new bird flu strain in the Far East, and now Eastern Europe which can infect people. Extensive depopulation of bird flocks there has not stopped the virus, but has slowed the spread of the disease. Human-to-human transmission is still poorly documented. Let us hope that virus does not mutate to begin this pattern of spread.

The good news…

With the tools of modern science at our disposal, we are finding out about these new viruses before they become widely dispersed. This increases our chance of developing vaccines, stocking and distributing anti-viral medicines, and instituting modern public health measures to stop or slow the early spread of these new strains.

So far, the new bird and dog flu virus strains do not appear to be infecting cats. Cats are also not susceptible to the human influenza strains we routinely see every winter either. Let us hope that these viruses do not jump into the feline species down the road! Cats already have plenty of viruses to deal with….