Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

If you want to keep track of the USDA pandemic testing:

http://www.usda.gov/documents/FINAL_RES ... ZA_CHT.pdf

This is interesting. I have 2 dogs (house dogs that have no other dog contact) that have been coughing and sneezing. Both were feeling pretty bad, back after I got really sick. I couldn't figure how they got either kennel cough or H3N8. They probably had swine. They coughed for about 10 days-2 weeks.

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

Picked up by Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNe ... ZG20091104

88.3 million cats in the U.S.; 74.8 million dogs. Most of us don't sleep with our neighbors, but many of us sleep with our pets. I shudder to think of the infections & re-infections--and the vet bills.

I just remembered this. I took my dog into the vet recently because she had discharge in her eyes. Vet said she had a little conjunctivitis. She said that this has been the worst allergy season she has seen in years for pets. Didn't think anything of it at the time.........

Our cats both had kitty colds this past summer too. Their only symptom was sneezing and watery eyes. Never took them to the vet.

Am I reading too much into this? It just makes you wonder.

In the past 10 days since the flu has visited my home, I have found cat vomit in various places but was not sure which one of my three it was. Sunday the youngest cat was sitting in a chair next to me sleeping. At one point he stood up, leaned over the arm of the chair and threw up. Then he just sat back down and went back to sleep.

Who would have thought he might have contracted H1N1 from us?

Infection of farmed animals with the pandemic virus
Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 briefing note 15
5 NOVEMBER 2009 | GENEVA -- To date, extensive testing by laboratories in the WHO influenza surveillance network has detected no signs that the H1N1 pandemic virus has mutated to a more virulent form. Currently licensed pandemic vaccines closely match circulating viruses and are expected to confer good protection.

Vigilance for changes in the H1N1 virus includes monitoring to detect possible influenza infections in susceptible animals, both mammals and birds, as well as humans. While most influenza A viruses circulating in mammals preferentially infect a single species, cross-species transmission is known to occur.

Infections in swine
Concern has traditionally focused on swine, which are susceptible to infections from human and avian influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. As influenza viruses have eight neatly segmented genes, swine could theoretically operate as a viral “mixing vessel” for the exchange of genetic material when an animal is co-infected with different viruses. Such an event could lead to changes in the genetic makeup of the H1N1 virus or result in a novel influenza virus of unknown public health significance.

Since the new H1N1 pandemic virus emerged, a small number of infections in swine herds have been reported. Limited evidence suggests that these infections occurred following direct transmission of the virus from infected humans to swine. These isolated events have had no impact on the dynamics of the pandemic, which is spreading readily via human-to-human transmission. As human infections become increasingly widespread, transmission of the virus from humans to swine is likely to occur with greater frequency.

Influenza in other species
In addition, pandemic H1N1 infections have been reported in turkeys in Chile and Canada and in a few pet animals in the USA. Again, these infections were isolated events and pose no special risks to human health.

The virus is killed at normal cooking temperatures. No human infections have been linked to the consumption of properly prepared meat or animal products, or any other food items.

Another concern is the continuing presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in poultry in several countries, where the virus is endemic. While no one can predict how the H5N1 virus might behave under the pressures of a pandemic, all data to date have been reassuring.

Most recently, authorities in Denmark reported a novel H3N2 influenza virus in mink on several mink farms. Sequencing of the virus demonstrated a combination of human and swine genes that has not been identified previously in circulating influenza viruses. Testing of farm workers detected no spread of the virus to humans. However, the incident demonstrates the constantly evolving ecology of influenza viruses, the potential for surprising changes, and the need for constant vigilance, also in animals.

Close monitoring needed
These recent findings further suggest that influenza A viruses in animals and humans increasingly behave like a pool of genes circulating among multiple hosts, and that the potential exists for novel influenza viruses to be generated in animals other than swine. This situation reinforces the need for close monitoring and close collaboration between public health and veterinary authorities.

When influenza infections are detected in farmed animals, WHO recommends monitoring of farm workers for signs of respiratory illness, and testing for H1N1 infection should such signs appear. FAO and OIE recommend that animals that are showing signs of illness be examined and properly managed, and allowed to fully recover before being transported or marketed.

In addition, samples from infected animals and humans should be taken for full genome sequencing of the influenza viruses to determine if mutations have occurred that could lead to changes in virulence, host range or antiviral resistance. Such sequencing is also important to assess the possible origin of the case or outbreak.

Official notification
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infections in birds must be reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), as must any "emerging disease" in animals. This would include infections with the pandemic H1N1 virus or other novel influenza viruses, when consistent with the “emerging disease” criteria for official notification.

These animal health events should be reported, together with the results of epidemiological and virological investigations, in keeping with OIE requirements for notification.


RELATED LINKS
Evolution of pandemic H1N1 2009 in animals
Press release from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Pandemic (H1N1) 2009

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu ... index.html

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/0 ... swine-flu/

Here's a NY Times version of the cat with h1n1 story. Includes symptoms and what you might observe in your cat if your cat has the flu.



The Cat Who Got Swine Flu

The cat was treated at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University by veterinarians Dr. Brett A. Sponseller and Dr. Albert Jergens. Although the family has asked not to be identified, Drs. Sponseller and Jergens have disclosed additional details about the case.

The cat, a 16-pound orange tabby, began acting lethargic and lost his appetite on Oct. 27. He is the only pet in the house and never goes outside. The cat, described as “large framed but not chubby,” stopped eating and drinking and stopped cleaning himself. He also rested by hunching on all four feet, rather than sprawling out on his side as usual, a sign of respiratory discomfort.
A few days earlier, two out of three family members in the home had developed flu-like symptoms, with fever and body aches.

The worried pet owner called Dr. Sponseller, a specialist in large animal internal medicine and molecular virology, who happened to be a family friend. At the time, neither Dr. Sponseller nor the pet owner suspected the flu — because the cat had vomited, they wondered whether he might have a gastrointestinal problem.

The next day, the cat arrived at the veterinary school, where he was seen by Dr. Jergens, a small animal specialist and immunologist. Upon examination, it appeared the cat had a respiratory condition, so Dr. Jergens performed a bronchial lavage, injecting fluid in and out of the lungs to collect cells to determine what was making the animal sick.

“It didn’t reveal anything that was consistent with what we typically see with pneumonia in a cat,” Dr. Sponseller said.

Although cats can contract flu from birds, this cat never left the house and was never exposed to any other pet. At that point, it occurred to the veterinarians that since the family members had been recently ill, they might be seeing a case of flu transmitted from human to cat. [b]The school is the site of a major diagnostic lab, so the veterinarians were able to test the cat and quickly confirm he had H1N1, a finding that was later confirmed by additional testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[/b]
Additional testing is being conducted to confirm that the family members had H1N1 and to try to verify that the flu was transmitted from human to cat. However, the circumstantial evidence is strong that the cat was infected by its owners and not the other way around. “This cat does not go outside,” Dr. Sponseller said. “Whatever came in, came to the cat.”

...

Commentary

http://www.recombinomics.com/News/11070 ... _Pets.html

In discussion with one of our vets, He did note that he has seen something that was unusual . He noticed a mucus discharge coming from some of the sick animals he had seen recently. Which he deemed highly unusual. Another indicator that your family dog can probably get infected with this. I do agree with Dr. Niman. There are two flu viruses for dogs that if coinfected at the same time it could present a possibility for recombination and mutation. Testing in this area is far from inadequate. When asked our vet said there is not facility within the region that would even be capable of testing for this. Which leaves us humans and our pets more prone for this to happen.

Stay safe,

Kyle

A 16-pound orange cat in Ames, Iowa, did something last month that will now and forevermore have a lot of cat lovers taking care to sneeze into their sleeves.

The 13-year-old tabby came down with H1N1 swine flu, proving that humans ill with the flu virus should take pains not to spread it to cats as well as humans.

The case surprised human and animal health authorities, who hadn't seen a human flu virus passed to a cat before, though passionate cat lovers were shaking their heads when it was reported last week.

"The guy talking on the television news acted so surprised by the story," said Judy Coffey, who runs Catworld, a Berwyn business that sells carpeted "cat trees" for felines to climb on, "but I think knowledgeable cat owners are well aware that our cats catch things from owners all the time.

"If we come down with a cold, pretty soon we see our cats sneezing," she said.Though that association could be a bit of a stretch, veterinary medical experts and zookeepers say there are a number of diseases that humans can share with the rest of the animal world, and the list seems to get a little longer every year.

The study of zoonotic diseases -- diseases transmissible between people and animals -- has become an important research area in recent decades with the appearance of deadly new emergent diseases like Ebola, HIV/AIDS and West Nile virus.

But finding a cat sick with H1N1 flu -- as that disease spreads to pandemic proportions -- surprised health experts.

"This cat is a new development in the H1N1 panic," said Kimberly May, a veterinary doctor and assistant director of professional services at the American Veterinary Medical Association.

"In general, cats are not considered susceptible to human flu viruses, but this cat got H1N1 flu from his owners. There seems to be no doubt about that, and from our understanding, it seems to be the first time a cat caught flu from a human."

But experts say there is no evidence as of now that cats or other pets can pass the flu virus onto humans.

The Iowa tabby is an indoor cat never allowed outside, said a report from the Illinois Department of Public Health. It had not been around any humans other than its owners, and in the last week of October, the owners came down with the flu, assumed to be H1N1.

On Oct. 27, the cat fell ill too. The owners called friends who are veterinary researchers at Iowa State University in Ames. The researchers brought in the cat to be studied, and it tested positive for H1N1. It has since recovered and is back home.

Cats now join a small list of other animals known to be susceptible to H1N1, including ferrets, domestic turkeys and pigs. Though sometimes called swine flu, the current strain does not come from swine.

No dogs are known to have caught H1N1, but that possibility can no longer be ruled out, said May.

"Cats and dogs and people all are prone to respiratory diseases," she said. "Obviously if H1N1 went into a cat, it is not impossible that it could go into a dog," though she cautioned that it is not likely that H1N1 will become very common in pets like cats and dogs.

"If a cat gets a runny nose, people should not jump to the conclusion that it is H1N1. It probably is not. Cats and dogs have their own little bugs running around, and if they get sick, almost all the time it is due to those bugs, not things passed on by humans," she said.

In 2004, a new illness showed up in dogs, canine influenza, thought to be a virus that jumped from horses to dogs. Humans and other animals do not get it, but it spread so rapidly in the canine world that last May virologists introduced a vaccine to protect dogs.

At zoos, keepers maintain distance and barriers between humans and animals as much to stop germs from spreading between the two as to protect against any physical dangers.

"While the protection goes both ways, most of our biosecurity protocols are there to keep animals from catching bugs from humans, both from keepers and the public," said Dominic Travis, a veterinary epidemiologist who is Lincoln Park Zoo's vice president for conservation and science.

Primates especially are susceptible to human respiratory diseases like flu, so in flu season, keepers wash their hands every time they leave an animal's station.

As for protecting pets from catching flu from infected humans, animal health authorities recommend humans take the same steps they would to protect family and friends. That includes sneezing into the sleeve of your crooked arm to avoid spreading the flu virus.

"You should wash your hands frequently, cover your coughs and sneezes and don't let the cat or dog lick your face, which of course isn't recommended at any time, though hard to avoid," said May.

For cats, Coffey jokingly offers another possible protection. "I have a cat that likes to sit on a high perch and greet people coming in. Some just go nose-to-nose nuzzling him," she said. "I have been thinking I should make him one of those little hospital masks you see doctors and nurses wearing around patients in hospitals."

wmullen@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ch ... 0266.story