California case suggests Tamiflu may save cats infected with H5N1 bird flu

Since the avian flu arrived en unit successful California’s dairy manufacture successful 2024, not lone has it sickened cows, it has killed hundreds of home cats. Some favored cats that unrecorded connected dairy farms were infected with the H5N1 microorganism by drinking earthy milk. Both pets and feral barn cats got sick aft eating earthy favored nutrient that harbored the virus. Still others got it by eating infected chaotic birds, rats oregon mice, oregon from interaction with dairy workers’ contaminated apparel oregon boots.

But a caller published lawsuit suggests that decease whitethorn beryllium averted if infected cats are treated aboriginal with antiviral medications, specified arsenic Tamiflu, oregon oseltamivir. Once treated, these animals whitethorn transportation antibodies to the microorganism that makes them resistant to reinfection, astatine slightest temporarily.

The find was made by Jake Gomez, a veterinarian who treats tiny animals, specified arsenic cats and dogs, arsenic good arsenic ample ones, including dairy cows, from his clinic, Cross Street Small Animal Veterinary Hospital, successful Tulare.

Last fall, Gomez worked with a squad of scientists from the University of Maryland and University of Texas who were successful the Central Valley collecting humor samples from outdoor cats astatine dairy farms, looking to spot if they could find antibodies to the H5N1 flu.

Cats are exquisitely delicate to H5N1; 1 of the telltale signs that a dairy herd is infected is the beingness of dormant barn cats.

On Oct. 31, a feline proprietor brought successful an indoor/outdoor feline to Gomez’ session that was ADR — a method veterinarian acronym that stands for “ain’t doing right.”

The feline was up-to-date connected each its vaccinations and the proprietor reported nary known vulnerability to toxic chemicals.

Gomez offered to bash humor enactment and urinalysis to probe much profoundly what was going on, but the proprietor declined. So, Gomez sent them location with an antibiotic and an appetite stimulant. Two days later, the feline died.

It turned retired the household had had different feline dice conscionable a fewer days earlier, Gomez said, recalling the visit.

Also during that time, Gomez was treating infected dairy herds astir Tulare. Thousands of cows were falling sick from the virus. The household with the sick cats, helium learned, lived little than a mile from an infected dairy, and the feline proprietor worked delivering hay to section dairies, spending clip connected infected farms.

“Considering however rapidly it moved from 1 feline to the next, it occurred to maine it mightiness beryllium H5N1,” helium said.

Gomez said helium reached retired to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture to spot if they would trial the dormant animals for the virus. The agencies, helium said, gave him the runaround and helium couldn’t get anyone to reply his calls — which helium said was perplexing, considering the accelerated effect erstwhile helium alerted them to infected cattle.

“If I called to archer them a dairy herd had it, wrong 24 hours a SWAT squad from the USDA and authorities would beryllium swarming the farm,” helium said. But for a cat? Crickets.

On Nov. 6 and 7, the household returned with 2 much sick cats.

Gomez said helium inactive didn’t cognize what they had, but had a suspicion they could beryllium infected with H5N1. So, helium treated them with the antiviral oseltamivir, known besides arsenic Tamiflu, and they recovered.

In March this year, humor samples collected from the 2 cats showed precocious levels of antibodies to H5N1 — suggesting the cats had been exposed.

The lawsuit was published successful the diary One Health.

Kristen Coleman, an airborne infectious illness researcher astatine the University of Maryland School of Public Health, and an writer connected the paper, said the findings suggest that cats whitethorn beryllium efficaciously treated and that antiviral medications could assistance forestall further dispersed of the microorganism among cats surviving successful the aforesaid location and the humans who attraction for them.

She said determination person been nary known transmissions from cats to humans successful this outbreak, but determination person successful the past — successful 2005, Thai zookeepers were infected by tigers that had the virus, and successful 2016, New York veterinarians astatine an carnal structure got it from tending to sick cats.

But Jane Sykes, a prof of medicine and epidemiology astatine UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, said she’s not convinced the cats successful this lawsuit really had H5N1 — and urged radical to work the survey with attraction and caution.

“It’s imaginable that the affirmative antibody trial results were unrelated to the reasons wherefore those 2 cats died,” she said. “The microorganism wasn’t detected successful immoderate of the 4 cats, truthful corruption was not proven.”

And whether the cats recovered due to the fact that they were treated with Tamiflu, oregon whether the medicine was incidental and they’d person recovered connected their ain — from different virus, corruption oregon ailment — isn’t clear.

In addition, she said, nary 1 has researched the effects of Tamiflu connected cats. And portion these 2 cats appeared to tolerate the drug, that doesn’t mean different cats will.

“Cats metabolize immoderate of the anti-infective compounds precise otherwise than different animals, including people, and they’re rather susceptible to atrocious broadside effects of galore of these drugs,” she said. “We person to beryllium truly cautious erstwhile we commencement conscionable utilizing random antiviral drugs that haven’t been studied for information successful cats, due to the fact that they are truthful apt to get atrocious broadside effects.”

Having said that, she said if she were faced with a akin situation, a precocious certainty that a feline had been exposed, whether from drinking earthy beverage oregon eating earthy nutrient that had been infected, she would see prescribing the medication. But she’d caution her lawsuit that it was experimental, and the carnal could dice from the drug.

She said determination are galore labs crossed the state that volition trial humor and urine for the virus.

Sykes urged radical not to provender earthy nutrient oregon beverage to their pets.

She said she’s seeing much earthy nutrient products for pets “and radical privation them, and they don’t recognize the harms and the information that immoderate of these are contaminated for a agelong play of clip with influenza viruses, similar H5N1.”

Neither freezing nor smoking nutrient kills the virus.

“It’s astonishing however large this manufacture is getting,” Sykes said. “It’s crazy.”