A major study warn that cats take to be monitor more closely as fowl flu - carrying bird migrate across the world and sit a greater terror of human - to - human transmission .

In late years , we have seen theH5N1strain of the hoot flu virus quickly develop to the point where it can now infect multiple non - human species . As this panzootic process – a far-flung disease outbreak affecting many different metal money across a extensive geographical range – is afoot , the terror to humans cover to originate .

We have already seen that variousmammalspecies that have frequent contact with human have begun to constrict the infection , so there is a motivation for majuscule monitoring of these metal money . However , one specie that is of finical worry is the house cat .

Cats have shew themselves to be susceptible to avian influenza contagion and serve as a potential pathway for spillover into human race . Both domestic hombre andlarger catspecies have been be intimate to contract the disease .

“ The computer virus has evolved , and the way that it jumps between coinage – from boo to cats , and now between cows and cat , cats and humans – is very concerning . As summer coming , we are anticipating case on farms and in the wild to rise again , ” Dr Kristen Coleman , assistant professor in the University of Maryland ( UMD ) School of Public Health ’s Department of Global , Environmental and Occupational Health and affiliate prof in UMD ’s Department of Veterinary Medicine , explained in astatement .

“ fowl grippe is very deadly to computerized axial tomography , and we urgently need to figure out how widespread the computer virus is in cat universe to better assessspilloverrisk to humans , ” she supply .

“ We want to help protect bothpeople and pet . ”

Coleman and Ian Gill Bemis , co - author of the paper and doctoral student study chick flu in cats , undertook a major orbicular review of research paper documenting cases of bird flu in cats publish between 2004 and 2024 . They find oneself 607 doll influenza transmission of cats across 18 countries , which were associated with 302 death . These infections occur in 12 cat specie , from domesticated cats to tigers .

Despite their tendency for catching bird flu , Arabian tea are not actively monitored for the disease and any testing typically happens postmortem , if it happens at all . As such , it is likely that the numbers of infections are importantly high than the enquiry has show .

More perturbing still is the variety of ways that cats can contract the disease . The most obvious route that spring to psyche is probably Caterpillar shoot down and eating birds , but they can also get it from pollute raw chicken feed , or even indirectly from other mammalian . For instance , farm cats can pluck it up from infectedcowsif they drinkraw Milk River , while best-loved cats can come into contact with other polluted bozo , just as LTTE can get it from other tigers .

When infected , cats tend to abide acute encephalitis ( brain lump ) and other wicked symptom that can be misguided for signs of madness , the authors take down . The deadliest strain of bird flu is extremely infective and makes up the legal age of cases in domesticated bozo , with a current fatality rate of 90 percent . At the moment , bird flu in humans is less baneful , but it has still killed about one-half of the 950 masses who have catch it across the globe .

Between April 28 , 2022 and May 7 , 2025 , the US had70 confirmed casesof human contagion and onedeath .

At present tense , there have not been any reported typeface of human - to - human transmission of bird flu , but the Coleman and Bemis worry thatthis may changeas the virus continue to spread and evolve .

“ Our succeeding research will involve field of study to learn the preponderance of HPAI and other influenza viruses in high-pitched - risk cat populations such as dairy b Caterpillar . Our research attempt to protect people and our vulnerable pet cats from the emerging threat of H5N1 , ” Bemis added .

The study is put out in the journalOpen Forum infective Diseases .