Published on July 3, 2023

Raw meat linked to H5N1 bird flu outbreak among cats

ByBNO News

Credit: Aleksandr Tarlõkov

Raw meat consumed by one of the infected cats in Poland has tested positive for H5N1 bird flu, according to researchers, adding to growing signs that a food product is behind the unusual outbreak.

At least 16 cats across Poland have died and tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza, but health officials are still investigating dozens of suspected cases, raising questions about the cause of the outbreak as cats are typically not affected.

“An assessment has shown that food is one of the likely routes of transmission of the pathogen,” virologist Krzysztof Pyrc said in a statement on late Monday night, together with fellow researchers Maciej Grzybek and Łukasz Rąbalski.

Earlier on Monday, Poland’s Veterinary Institute confirmed that genomic sequencing had shown that the strains in nine of the confirmed…