NorthJersey.com
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- Two cats tested positive for bird flu in Hunterdon County, New Jersey
- One cat was feral, the other was indoor-outdoor
- The feral cat was euthanized after developing “severe disease”
- Humans who came into contact with the cats have not developed any symptoms
Two cats tested positive for avian influenza in New Jersey, but the likelihood of feline-to-human transmission remains low, health officials said Friday.
The two cats — one feral, the other an indoor-outdoor cat — were found on the same property in Hunterdon County with other cats who also appeared to be sick, state Health Department officials said. Tests on the other cats are pending.
The feral cat “developed severe disease” including neurologic impairments. It was euthanized. Health officials did not say how sick the indoor-outdoor cat became or whether it was euthanized.
It is not known how the cats became infected. They had not come into contact with infected poultry or livestock, but they roamed outdoors and could have come into contact with infected birds or other animals, health officials said.
Humans who came into contact with the cats have not developed any symptoms. No human cases have been reported in New Jersey.
It is not unusual for cats to become infected with bird flu and develop severe illness. While cats in other states have become infected during the national outbreak, there have been no reports of transmission to humans, health officials said. Most of the infected humans had close contact with infected chickens and cows.
The news comes a week after officials reported the first case of bird flu in poultry in New Jersey. The bird was found during testing at a live poultry market in Union County that was subsequently shut down temporarily to sanitize the facility.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza or H5N1 has already been confirmed in wild birds in Warren and Salem Counties and presumed in birds found in Bergen, Morris, Sussex, Atlantic, Burlington, Cumberland, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
The outbreak has prompted millions of chickens to be killed, causing a nationwide egg shortage that has caused prices to skyrocket to more than $8 a dozen.
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