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House Cats With Bird Flu Could Pose a Risk to Public Health - KFF Health News (kffhealthnews.org)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Now, a small but growing number of house cats have gotten sick from H5N1, the bird flu strain driving the current U.S. outbreak, after eating raw food or drinking unpasteurized milk

One neat trick to make sure your cat doesn’t get bird flu: don’t do that. Don’t let them outside unsupervised and stop feeding them raw food.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

One can hope that farmers with barn cats will actually do that, but they probably won't.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It’s not just barn cats, any cat that goes outdoors and even indoor cats that are fed raw food can get it if the food is contaminated. Although right now based on CDC statements it seems like cats are mostly getting it from dairy workers, not the other way around.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

That's true, but barn cats are cats that are more likely to be fed scraps and raw food to begin with. Most people with pet cats are just feeding them cat food. Obviously some people are doing this as it is discussed in the article, but, Bird flu is primed to be the next covid with how unseriously it's being taken right now, especially by poultry/egg farmers.