CAT with H1N1 . . .

[Deb in IA]

OK, so I know there have been jokes about dogs and stuffed animals with H1N1 here, and NO, I don't think H1N1 is at all funny, especially anyone who has suffered from it, missed work or school from it, or sadly, known of people who have died from it, but here is an interesting article. Now, why the vets tested the cat for H1N1 when we are not even testing humans for this is another topic too . . .

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/iowa-cat-catches-swine-flu/story?id=8999295

Cat in Iowa Catches Swine Flu
Officials Say Male Cat in Iowa is First to Catch H1N1
By LAUREN COX
ABC News Medical Unit
Nov. 5, 2009
An unidentified male cat in Iowa is believed to be the first in the nation diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, sparking concerns that pets may transmit the swine flu or that frightened pet owners may abandon their cats in droves.

The 13-year-old, mixed-breed cat showed the symptoms of lethargy, sneezing and coughing typical to sick cats. He was brought last week to Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, where it was confirmed he had the H1N1 virus.

Veterinarians refused to release his identity and would not divulge the coat color or any other identifying characteristics to protect client-veterinarian privacy. One veterinarian who treated the cat, Brett Sponseller, said two people in the cat's Iowa home had flu-like symptoms before he became ill.

Officials at the Iowa Department of Public Health released the unnamed cat's diagnosis Wednesday.

"In this particular instance, the cat was treated for its dehydration with fluid therapy and also treated with antibiotics upon the results of testing," said Albert Jergens, professor of internal medicine at Iowa State University.

"The cat has been on therapy now for approximately seven days," he said. "I think the prognosis on this cat for a full recovery is excellent."

This is the first known transmission of influenza from a person to a cat, an expert at the Centers for Disease and Control told ABC News senior medical editor Dr. Richard Besser.

The expert, Dr. Carolyn Bridges, who is the associate director of Science in Influenza at the CDC in Atlanta, said flu viruses tend to stick to one species or another but the case of the Iowa cat shows the ability of the flu to cross species.

In light of the news, some veterinarians are worried about the well-being of other cats across the nation; whether the cats contract the H1N1 virus.

"This could be a thing that just fizzles out but it also has the potential for huge impact," said Tony Johnson, a clinical assistant professor at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine. "We have these little fuzzy things living in our house that could be vectors for nasty diseases."

Johnson isn't so worried that cats will spread the flu to humans: "Most influenza viruses are not going to kill you," he said.

Rather, he worries cat owners might abandon their animals at the first sign of a sniffle.

"I think that's what's going to wig people out," Johnson said. "I don't want to see the shelters filled with cats and dogs tomorrow."

Veterinarians have long heard of the flu jumping from animals to humans, and some cases of pets to humans. But it's uncommon for a flu virus to jump from a human to a cat.


Has Human to Pet Transfer Happened With Other Flu Viruses?
"The H1N1 virus obviously has the potential to jump from animals to humans -- most people believe that that's where it originated -- and it's already been proven to make the jump from humans to animals," said Dr. Steven L. Rowell, director of the Foster Hospital for Small Animals at Tufts University.

But ferrets and pigs, rather than cats, seem to be the animals most at risk for catching a human flu. The new H1N1 strain is no exception to that trend.

The United States Department of Agriculture has documented one case of a ferret in Oregon contracting the flu from an infected owner and several pigs contracting the H1N1 virus from humans.

"This is the first case we've heard of in cats, and I'm curious to know how the case presented itself," Rowell said.

The good news is that it appears that the cat and the family members have recovered just fine."

Although ferret owners are experienced in dealing with human-to-ferret flu, cat owners may not be and veterinarians have some specific recommendations.


What Should People Do If Their Animal Seems Sick?
If an owner is worried that their cat or dog has the swine flu, veterinarians recommend that owners not rush to the local vet's office demanding an H1N1 test.

"If people are going to their vet with their cat or dog, there's not, to my knowledge, an easily accessible way for vets to test them for H1N1," Johnson said.

To protect the household from pet flu infections, veterinarians recommend the same precautions families should take when a person falls ill.

"Wash your hands before and after touching your pet, and avoid sneezing on your animal," Rowell said. "And if you suspect your pet has the flu, do not treat him or her with drugs yourself, bring them in to your veterinarian. Treating them with over-the-counter flu medicines may do much more harm than good."

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

"Wash your hands before and after touching your pet, and avoid sneezing on your animal," Rowell said.

YikeS!!! it makes me nervious. As far as sneezing on my cat its the other way around.... Dont you dare sneeze on me (she sneezes, I get a cold).

 

[JerseyJanice]

So this is like an inter-species virus? Scary stuff.

Well, I'm sure Max is immune to it anyway. DS had "probable" swine flu last spring, and the dog laid all over him the whole time. No, Max didn't get sick; he never does.

He is a very tough canine; I don't think he could get sick if he tried.

 

[sbell111]

Cat in Iowa Catches Swine Flu
Officials Say Male Cat in Iowa is First to Catch H1N1

I'm not buying it.

 

[N.Bailey]

I'm not buying it.

Why wouldn't you believe it? There is no reason to think animals wouldn't be as effected as humans if they came into contact with it.

I know they are scared chitless about the Asian strain having the possibility of being transmitted between all types of animals and humans. The fear is warranted because while we can control humans to a certain extend, we can't control every animal out there, including stray dogs and cats.

Our new kitten had some sort of cold recently too and I honestly think everyone in my family had H1N1. I can't tell you that our kitten would have tested positive for H1N1 (anymore than I can conclusively say we did), but she did indeed have something. I don't think the cat in the OP is the only one to have caught it, though it may be at this point, the only one confirmed.

I do want to clarify that I don't necessarily believe our kitten had H1N1. I think she just had a cold. I added that to show that they too are susceptible to viruses, just as humans are.

 

[sbell111]

Why wouldn't you believe it? There is no reason to think animals wouldn't be as effected as humans if they came into contact with it.

Actually, there are plenty of reasons to believe that animals are not affected by the same viruses as we are. Here's a few:

1. Cats and dogs have never caught the flu from humans in the past.
2. Cats and dogs have not been dropping like flies this flu season.

 

[TheZue]

Actually, there are plenty of reasons to believe that animals are not affected by the same viruses as we are. Here's a few:

1. Cats and dogs have never caught the flu from humans in the past.
2. Cats and dogs have not been dropping like flies this flu season.

Actually dogs in the North East are dealing with a nasty flu outbreak, but it's not H1N1 but H3N8. They are recomending if you have to use a kennel this year to get your dog a vaccination for it. So that deals with number two on your list.

 

[Deb in IA]

Animals and humans "swap" viruses all the time, due to subtle changes in their genetic material.

Here's a story that talks about this:

Flu dogma being rewritten by a strange virus no one pegged to trigger a pandemic
By Helen Branswell Medical Reporter (CP) – 23 hours ago

TORONTO — The World Health Organization's top flu scientist often describes the virus he's studied for years as "humbling."

And Dr. Keiji ***uda isn't alone in marvelling at the mercurial nature of influenza. Flu scientists repeat almost as a mantra that the only thing predictable about flu is its unpredictability.

Yet despite decades of evidence that influenza will repeatedly rewrite the rules, flu dogma emerges and takes hold. Scientists keen to sift patterns from chaos agree X is true about Y - until the virus sets them straight yet again.

In the late '60s it was held that pandemic viruses emerged in 11-year cycles, after the closely spaced 1957 Asian flu and 1968 Hong Kong flu outbreaks.

It used to be accepted that only H1, H2 and H3 viruses could infect humans. And then viruses from the H5, H7 and H9 subtypes jumped from birds to infect people. Wrong again.

Though the world is not quite seven months into this pandemic, a number of widely held assumptions about flu and pandemics seem destined for the redrawing board when the dust from this outbreak settles.

Here are some:

-Pandemic viruses emerge from Asia, the cradle of flu viruses.

Years of focus on H5N1 avian influenza viruses left experts convinced Asia was the birthplace of new flu viruses and would be the source of the next pandemic. Despite the fact that there's good evidence the 1918 Spanish flu virus may have emerged in Kansas, no one was looking to North America as ground zero for the first pandemic of the 21st century.

It's a valuable lesson, says Dr. Nancy Cox, who has been pushing for a number of years for more flu surveillance in Latin America.

"You can't take your eye off the other possible threats. You can't focus too much on one area of the world because influenza - a new virus - can emerge from anywhere," says Cox, head of the influenza division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

-Pandemics are triggered by "antigenic shift."

Flu viruses evolve constantly via small mutations, a process called antigenic drift. But once in a blue moon an entirely new virus bursts out of nature, an event known as antigenic shift. Because most people are vulnerable to the new virus, it ignites a pandemic.

It used to be thought pandemics could only be started by a virus with a new hemagglutinin - the H number in the virus's name - or a virus with a hemagglutinin that hadn't spread recently among people, such as the H2N2 viruses that circulated from 1957 to 1968.

The current pandemic is caused by an H1N1 virus, which is startling because almost everyone alive has antibodies to H1 viruses. They've been circulating among people since 1918, except for a 20-year gap between 1957 and 1977.

So few scientists would have predicted a new H1 virus could cause a pandemic at this point in history.

Some, in fact, still question whether this outbreak is a pandemic, at least by the definition science currently applies. The retired head of virology for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is one of the doubters.

"There's no precedence for this," says Dr. Walter Dowdle, who now works for the non-profit Task Force on Global Health, based at Emory University in Atlanta. "Nobody had really thought that . . . the virus would re-emerge with this much background immunity."

But Dowdle cautions about dismissing the potential of this virus just because it defies our assumptions.

"We're the ones that make the definitions. And if the virus doesn't behave according to the definitions, well, it's our fault, not the virus's fault. So I think we have to be very careful about forcing the viruses into our definition, which can only be made based on what we've seen in the past. Now we've seen something different. And so therefore we've got to go back and rethink this."

-Emerging pandemics can be extinguished with quick use of antiviral drugs.

Landmark modelling studies published in August 2005 suggested that with good surveillance, rapid response capacity and enough Tamiflu, a flu virus that was just starting to spread person-to-person could be snuffed out.

The late Dr. J.W. Lee, then director general of the WHO, committed the agency to try. Experts at the agency and elsewhere spent untold person-hours honing a plan for trying to stop a pandemic at source.

And while flu experts were watching the spread of H5N1 avian flu viruses from Asia, pigs got infected with some viruses that swapped genes and created the H1N1 virus we call swine flu. By the time we knew it was spreading, containment was out of the question.

"This cat was not only out of the bag, but this cat had nine litters before we realized what had happened," says Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy.

-We'd know it when we saw it.

Pandemics are rare. And before this one, only two had occurred in the era of virology. So what would a pandemic look like? Experts insisted it was a bit like pornography - we'd know it when we saw it.

And then a new virus of swine-avian-and-human genes started to spread. It wasn't from a new subtype (see above). And but for the fact it was spreading in the off season and causing severe illness in younger people, it might have been mistaken for plain old flu.

Confusion ensued.

-There would be little time between the spotting of an emerging pandemic virus and the declaration of a pandemic.

The WHO's pandemic alert scale goes from Phase 1 (no threat) to Phase 6 (pandemic). For years the world had been at Phase 3, which means a non-human virus (H5N1) posed a pandemic threat and was triggering occasional cases, but person-to-person transmission was rare and limited.

Most experts assumed when a pandemic virus started to take off, the world would race through Phases 4 and 5 to 6.

Within 10 days of the first announcement that human swine flu infections had been found, the WHO raised the alert level from 3 to 4 and then to 5.

And then the world waited.

The virus spread as expected. What wasn't anticipated was political resistance to the declaration of a pandemic caused by such a mild strain. The gap between Phase 5 and Phase 6 stretched for six weeks - not because of the virus, but because of political wrangling and perceived need to ease the world into the first pandemic in 41 years.

-A mutation at position 627 on the PB2 gene means trouble.

After years of study, flu scientists believe they've found a number of signature motifs in viruses that can predict characteristics like disease severity or transmissibility. One is a mutation at the 627 position on a gene called PB2.

For as far back as molecular biology can see, all flu viruses known to have spread among humans had the mutation. That has led flu scientists to peg it as essential to transmission in humans. But this virus doesn't have that mutation.

Flu virologists have been on the lookout for pandemic H1N1 viruses with this change, believing it would confer greater transmissibility and maybe greater severity of disease. But when it was found in a few cases in the Netherlands, there were no nightmare changes in the illness pattern.

-People would clamour for pandemic vaccine.

Much of the recent pandemic planning was done with H5N1 flu in mind. The virus is a monster in humans, killing around 60 per cent of those infected. Planners assumed people would be desperate for pandemic vaccine.

But until recently, it seemed H1N1 wouldn't scare many people into vaccine queues. Instead, polls showed a surprising number were more nervous about the vaccine than the virus.

And even after the recent death of 13-year-old Evan Frustaglio of Toronto received widespread attention, a Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll showed only 55 per cent of Canadians want this vaccine.

Meanwhile in Europe, response to vaccination efforts has been indifferent.

"It's funny because I would not have predicted us to be in this situation a year ago. Because it's a no-brainer that you'll get the vaccine out and you'll want to vaccinate as many people as possible," says Dr. Michael Gardam, of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.

-People would need two shots of vaccine to be protected against a pandemic virus.

The assumption was that a pandemic virus would be so new our immune systems wouldn't be able to protect us against it with just one shot. One jab would be needed to "prime" our immune systems and a second to "boost."

Those assumptions were based on the idea a pandemic virus would be a new virus subtype, foreign to our immune systems.

Clinical trials of H1N1 vaccine show most people respond to a single shot of vaccine as if it's a booster, not a primer.

-Vaccine would be ready in time to combat the second wave of infections.

Planners expected more time between the emergence of the virus and a proper first wave of activity. And they thought there would be enough time before the second wave to make and deploy vaccine.

This virus has followed a different timetable, with a rapid and heavy first wave in the spring, continued activity over the summer and an early start to the flu season in the fall.

In Canada, the first supplies of vaccine have arrived as activity is really taking off in many parts of the country. Public health officials are in a race with the virus, trying to get vaccine into people before they can catch the bug. But it takes about 10 days for an immune response to develop after vaccination and in some cases, the virus is winning the race.

"I think most of us were hoping that there was going to be a longer gap between the initial identification and even a first wave," says Dr. Allison McGeer, head of infection control at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital.

The head of the CDC has been surprisingly blunt in his assessment of the existing system's capacity to make pandemic vaccine in a timely way. "The technology we are using, although tried and true, is not well suited for pandemics," Dr. Tom Frieden has said.

-Hospitals would be crippled.

Pandemic planners thought hospitals would be overwhelmed. Emergency departments would be swamped. Overflow facilities might be needed. Surgeries would be cancelled.

No one knows what this winter has in store and that scenario could still materialize. Certainly after high profile cases like the Frustaglio death, emergency departments have reported heavy use.

But so far, hospitals haven't been overwhelmed - except intensive care units.

Severe cases of H1N1 are rare, but people who develop bad disease are profoundly ill. ICU staff have to take extraordinary measures to oxygenate the blood of these people because their embattled lungs cannot do the work for them.

ICUs in a number of hard hit places during the spring wave reported nearing the point of overflow. If they reach that point, experts say, death rates will rise and other hospital services will need to be rationed. But that hasn't been the case to date.

Follow Canadian Press Medical Writer Helen Branswell's flu updates on Twitter at CP-Branswell

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

 

[sbell111]

Animals and humans "swap" viruses all the time, due to subtle changes in their genetic material.

Here's a story that talks about this:

While it is true that I read through that article very quickly, I saw no reference to cats and dogs getting the flu from humans.

 

[sbell111]

Actually dogs in the North East are dealing with a nasty flu outbreak, but it's not H1N1 but H3N8. They are recomending if you have to use a kennel this year to get your dog a vaccination for it. So that deals with number two on your list.

True. You have pointed out that I was lazy in drafting my post. Still, the fact that cats and dogs can catch a flu doesn't support that they catch flus from humans.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Cats do swap viriuses with humans. I have gotten pink eye from my cat

 

[Magic Mom]

Cats do swap viriuses with humans. I have gotten pink eye from my cat

Have you changed your screen name? I think I remember another poster having the exact same issue.

 

[Scurvy]

While it is true that I read through that article very quickly, I saw no reference to cats and dogs getting the flu from humans.

Given that the cat is the only pet in the household and never goes outside, it seems likely that it caught the flu from the people in the household who had been infected with it. Obviously that can't be proven, but it certainly seems more likely than not.

 

[sbell111]

Cats do swap viriuses with humans. I have gotten pink eye from my cat

Did you get the flu?

 

[OurPrincessChloe]

My friend, a frequent reader here, sent me a link to this post. I could not believe my eyes! I swear last week two of my children had H1N1; Doctor said yes. However, DS tested negative. During this time, our dog was acting VERY weird. (He's a lab and usually very spunky.). In any case, his stomach sounded like a volcanic eruption was taking place for quite some time. In fact, I got online to Google Swine Flu in Pets. After reading that it "couldn't" transmit, I let it go. Afterall, I didn't even know that was what the kids had for sure. However, he threw up all over a couple of times.

He's fine now, but I had sent a note to my friend who sent me this link, saying that illness was the FIRST time in my lifetime of dog ownership that I've ever seen an animal get sick at the same time as us.

Weird---and a little scary.

 

[N.Bailey]

Actually, there are plenty of reasons to believe that animals are not affected by the same viruses as we are. Here's a few:

1. Cats and dogs have never caught the flu from humans in the past.
2. Cats and dogs have not been dropping like flies this flu season.

Careful what you say, words like NEVER really go against your credibility.

While the H1N1 flu currently circulating can jump easily from person to person, it does not travel well from humans to animals or animals to humans, except in a few rare instances.

"This really is not a practical issue at this point," said Dr. Chris Olsen, a professor of public health and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. "Is that to say it's not possible? No."

And even when inter-species transmissions do occur, the H1N1 virus seems more likely to move from humans to animals, rather than the other way around.

And dog and cat owners don't need to take any extra precautions when it comes to the H1N1 flu, even though there have been instances of animals contracting, and sometimes even passing on, the regular seasonal flu.

Olsen added: "There are also reports of the human influenza virus going from people to dogs but this is, again, a rare occurrence."

http://health.usnews.com/articles/h...y-when-it-comes-to-swine-flu-your-pet-is.html

More at link. I also want everyone to know, I pulled specific paragraphs from the above site. I did not copy the entire article.

 

[dogodisney]

I found this about it too.

 

[Terry36]

Actually dogs in the North East are dealing with a nasty flu outbreak, but it's not H1N1 but H3N8. They are recomending if you have to use a kennel this year to get your dog a vaccination for it. So that deals with number two on your list.

My vet is requiring all dogs who need boarding, grooming and bathing be immunized by November for the Canine Flu. The notice I received states: The horse flu virus, which has been around for over 40 years, has now decided to infect dogs. Unfortunately, none of our pets have natural immunity to this virus. Therefore, 100% of dogs are susceptible to the flu infection and, about 80% of exposed dogs will develop symptoms such as coughing, nasal discharge, sneezing, lack of energy and pneumonia. One of the most disturbing things about this virus is that animals that are in the contagious stage and shedding the virus show no symptoms. Infected dogs may not show signs until after they are finished shedding the virus to other dogs. Infectious dogs may look perfectly normal, and act perfectly normal, while spreading the disease to other dogs. For that reason, vaccination is really the only practical way of preventing severe disease.

There are two doses of the vaccination, received 2 to 4 weeks apart.

My Maltese received the 1st dose yesterday....I will do what I can to keep my sweetie safe!!!