Cats and dogs die from rare bird flu infections as virus spills over into mammals

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Exposing the Big Game's avatarThe Extinction Chronicles

Mammalian deaths from bird flu are rare, but cats that spend time outdoors are especially vulnerable because they hunt and eat wild birds.

https://illinoisnewsroom.org/cats-and-dogs-die-from-rare-bird-flu-infections-as-virus-spills-over-into-mammals/

  • Photo: Julia Kleinschmit

A map of the United States shows where bird flu has been detected in mammals.

In extremely rare cases, bird flu can infect and kill cats and dogs when the pets eat birds with the disease.

The bird flu wave that’s left around 60 million chickens and turkeys dead nationwide can also infect and kill pets like cats and dogs, along with other mammals.

Six cats have died in Nebraska, Wyoming and Oregon and at least one dog in Canada. The U.S. Department of Agriculturereports170 mammals have picked up the disease during the latest outbreak, mostly wild foxes and skunks.

Cases are extremely rare but can be fatal.

“I think maybe we were waiting for this moment to happen,” said Nichola Hill, an ecologist at the University of Massachusetts Boston…

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