Bird Flu

[andrew021]

This piece appeared in BBC News Website today 06/04/06

It is vital to restrict the spread of bird flu in cats in order to protect human health, scientists warn.

Writing in Nature, scientists from Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, say the risk is being overlooked.
They say cats can contract the virus by eating infected chicken or through close contact with other cats - both new ways of mammals becoming infected.
However, animal health experts said there was a "limited risk" to humans from infected mammals with H5N1 flu.

The first report of domestic cats dying of the H5N1 virus emerged in Thailand in 2004 when 14 out of 15 cats in a household near Bangkok fell ill and died.
One had eaten a chicken carcass on a farm where there was an outbreak of the virus.

Post-mortem examinations on three of the cats confirmed the presence of H5N1.
Since then, there have been deaths among cats in Indonesia, Thailand and Iraq, where H5N1 appears to be prevalent among poultry.
And the disease is common among cats in Indonesia.

A dead cat was also found in Germany in March after the H5N1 virus was found in wild birds.

There have been reports of big cats dying from the deadly H5N1 virus - including 147 tigers who died in a Thai zoo after eating infected chicken.

The Erasmus researchers say there is too little data to establish what the minimum dose needed to infect cats is or whether cats can excrete the virus even if they are uninfected.
It is also not known whether they can transmit the virus back to poultry or even on to humans.

[dinahsmum]

Anyone think this will still be a story in six months time? (she asked, cynically)
Just stand back and watch whilst I am stricken and fall to the floor coughing and tweeting!
Seriously, the media is wetting it's collective pants over this story and seems delighted that a case has finally been discovered in UK. 100 people have died worldwide over the last couple of years More people than that die on Britains road in a fortnight, not to mention those whose lives are changed irrevocably by road accidents.

[Snoof]

DM, will you be my auntie?

I agree completely with DM, although I suspect it may still be a story in 6 months' time, only then more people will have shrugged it off. You can't sustain a media hype of this nature for that long without losing a lot of believers.

Really, it capitalises on people who worry to much. Not very admirable. I tend to read these articles, go and then realise how long they've been dancing about this one for and shrug it off.

[EmmaG]

Originally Posted by andrew021

There have been reports of big cats dying from the deadly H5N1 virus - including 147 tigers who died in a Thai zoo after eating infected chicken.

That one HELL of a lot of tigers for ONE Zoo to have isn't it????

I agree with DM, whilst I do agree that if this mutates into a flu epidemic I think we will have a real problem just due to the very high percentage of fatalities of the people who have caught it. I hate this sort of media hype and I am just glad I don't get any of the daily papers

[CJK]

ohn
nooooooooooo

mustnt eat chicken in case i get bird flu

mustnt eat beef cos of mad cows ( ddi you know that was named after me? CJD + carly jane disease, cos I am soooooooo loopy_

if we listened to it all we'd never own a pet, and never eat or drink anything or take any medicines etc.

[yola]

Originally Posted by CJK

mustnt eat beef cos of mad cows ( ddi you know that was named after me? CJD + carly jane disease, cos I am soooooooo loopy_

PMSL CJ!!!! That's classic . . .

Never a truer word spoke though . . . NOT about you being mad of course. but about this stupid media-induced hysteria and the poor, sad saps who fall for it!!

[Donna]

Dont listen to the news or read papers as it is always full of rubbish.

[andrew021]

I told my friend of story and he said not to let Jet out in case she catches something. She could never catch a bird anyhow.

Probably in the next few weels there will be a decrease in the sale of chickens in supermarkets.

Oh dear what are people going to eat for Easter, no chicken or turkeys available.

[emma_pen]

I'm not worried. I am sure if bird flu does become an issue here, the UK will handle just as diabolically as CJD

I feel sorry for all the birds they want bringing indoors I only eat organic eggs and theres gonna be no organic if all the chickens are inside. Oh, a swan has bird flu - lets change all of the happy organic chickens to battery hens overnight

[Luke]

I have a motto-if we're gonna die, we're gonna die no use worrying about it!
I also shan't be depriving my cats of going out until told otherwise!