The CDC study suggested
Two milk workers in Michigan may have transferred bird flu to their pet cats in May in May, a new study, which was published on Thursday by the centers for the control and prevention of diseases.
In a household, infected cats may also have passed on the virus to other people in the household, but only limited evidence makes it difficult to determine the opportunity.
The results come from a study that was to be published in January, but was delayed by the break of the Trump administration to communicate from the CDC
A single data table from the new report appeared briefly online two weeks ago in an article about the forest fires in California and then disappeared quickly. This odd incident caused calls from experts in public health for the publication of the study.
The new paper still leaves big questions unanswered, including the way the cats were infected for the first time and whether agricultural workers spread the virus to the cats and other people in the household, experts said.
“I don't think public health.
Officials in Michigan started two households in May in May, when only interior talks showed breathing and neurological symptoms and after death were positively tested for the virus, which was referred to as H5N1. The officials interviewed the owners and household members of the cats and offered them to test them for the virus.
The owners of both cats were milk workers. The first agricultural worker did not work directly with cows, and it was not known that the Farm Herder infected. However, the worker reported that many of the barn cats have died on the farm's premises recently. The worker also reported that he had experienced vomiting and diarrhea before the first household cat became sick.
The second agricultural worker reported that he had been injected into the face and eyes with milk and experienced eye irritation. Both workers refused to be tested.
“This study provides even more evidence that agricultural workers can refuse tests with high risk exposure,” said Dr. Nuzzo.
“To protect people and to be ahead of this virus, we have to move away for the testing patients,” she added. “People should not fear that a positive testing of financial burdens or other personal damage.”
In the household of the first agricultural worker, the first cat, which got sick, showed a reduced appetite, lack of care, abnormal gait and lethargy and quickly deteriorated. It was put to sleep on the fourth day of the disease.
A second cat in the household developed an aqueous eye discharge, quick breathing and reduced the appetite four days after the first cat got sick. This cat recovered and was not tested for the virus. A third cat had no symptoms and tested negatively for the virus 11 days after the first cat's disease.
Neither the cats nor the people in the household drank unpasteurized milk. How the cats have infected themselves is unclear, but experts said that agricultural workers probably infected H5N1 at their workplace and brought the virus home.
“If you love your cat, you will probably give him head kisses when she allows her,” said Kristen K. Coleman, researcher at the University of Maryland.
Three people in the household – an adult and two young people – tested negatively for H5N1. Six days after the first cat got sick, one of the young people got sick with cough, sore throat and body pain, and the other reported a cough that was attributed to allergies.
But because the youngsters were checked late – 11 days after the first cat got sick – it was not impossible that they were infected with H5N1 that they were picked up by the cats, said Dr. Coleman.
Later in May, a pet cat developed severe neurological symptoms in the second household, including anorexia and minimal movement, and died within a day. The cat tested positively for bird flu after her death.
The owner of the cat transported non -pasteurized milk, including from farms with well -known bird flu exit. According to the study, the owner did not wear personal protective equipment (PSA) in the treatment of raw milk. reported on frequent milk spray exposures against face, eyes and clothing; And do not remove work clothes before they were entered the house when they returned from work. “
The cat that got sick was known that it “rolled the owner's work clothes,” said the study.
Virus in raw milk that are sprayed on this clothing can be the source of infection in the cat, said Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Veterinary Laboratory Wisconsin.
“At this point I think that the higher risk is your exposure to raw milk products,” he said. “There is so much virus in the milk.”
Of 24 veterinary staff who may have been exposed to the infected cats, seven of symptoms such as nasal overload and headache reported. Only five agreed to test; Everyone was negative.
Dr. Coleman recommended that veterinarians remain vigilant with the possibility of bird flu infections when they see sick cats. “Animal owners shouldn't have to rely on postmortal samples to get a diagnosis,” she said.
