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Dear Uncle Matty: According to one of my friends, recent articles in newspapers have said that cats can give the bird flu virus to other cats. How serious is this? I have three cats, and they are outside in the morning, and so are a lot of birds here in Arizona. Should I keep them inside the house?

Dear Betty: It is true that in March of this year, a cat in Germany died, a victim of the bird flu. The cat was tested, and it was confirmed that this feline died of a strain of the virus known as H5N1, a form that is deadly to humans. You should also know that the cat lived in an area where a high number of infected birds had been found.

According to ABC News, Dr. James Richards, director of the Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, the virus has shown up in tigers and leopards in a Thailand zoo, and the World Health Organization says that household cats in Thailand have died of the disease. Research confirms that cats can transmit the virus to other cats through respiratory secretions, feces or urine. Richards emphasizes there is no evidence that cats are a risk to humans regarding the avian flu.

There is more evidence that cats are at risk than dogs at this time. Many animals, including cats and dogs, can transmit viral or bacterial diseases through contact with bodily secretions or parasites, including fleas. But what are the real risks in Canada and the United States? Based on the fact that in recent months, the bird flu virus has spread rapidly through Central Asia, then Europe and into Africa, the U.S. government says the appearance of H5N1 in the United States is inevitable. Migratory birds from Asia are expected to move through Alaska, into Canada and then onto the West Coast of the United States. It is about now that these birds are arriving in Alaska and are expected to arrive on the West Coast this summer. The U.S. government is carefully monitoring this situation and expects to collect between 75,000 and 100,000 samples for testing in Alaska and the West Coast.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:00 AM