The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 20 cats have been infected with bird flu across Poland, but that no one appears to be sick with the H5N1 virus.
In a statement on Monday (17/7), the WHO said it was the first time that so many cats had been reported with bird flu over such a wide geographical area in one country, amid a global outbreak of the latest variant H5N1.
The WHO said that late last month, Polish authorities notified UN agency officials of the unusual deaths of more than 45 cats in the country’s 13 geographical areas. Tests last week found that 29 of the cats had H5N1.
As of June, new variants of H5N1 have been reported in birds and other animal species in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Since 2020, WHO says dozens of human cases have been reported.
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Scientists fear that increasing cases of H5N1, especially in animals with frequent human contact, could lead to a mutated version of the disease that can spread easily between humans, triggering another pandemic.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many experts suspected that the next global outbreak would be triggered by H5N1. Although bird flu has killed hundreds of millions of birds worldwide, it has affected fewer than 900 people since 2003 and has not spread easily among people.
The WHO said it was unclear how a domestic cat in Poland became infected with bird flu and said officials were still investigating possible sources of exposure, including contact with wild birds known to carry H5N1. The agency said the risk of people in Poland becoming infected with bird flu was “low” and “low to moderate” for people exposed to cats, including cat owners and veterinarians.
Last week, the WHO and its partners warned that an increase in the number of mammals infected with H5N1 was not uncommon. Experts have previously warned that pigs, which are susceptible to flu viruses from both humans and birds, could act as “confounders”, giving rise to viruses that can mutate and kill humans.
Since last year, authorities in 10 countries have reported outbreaks of bird flu in mammals, including minks in Spain, seals in the US, and sea lions in Peru and Chile. [ab/uh]
2023-07-17 11:44:57
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