The US hasn't seen a human bird flu case in 3 months. Experts are wondering why

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5. "Similar surveillance is "urgently needed" among domestic cats, said Kristen Coleman, a researcher at....

I had not read about cats being infected.


Similar surveillance is “urgently needed” among domestic cats, said Kristen Coleman, a researcher at the University of Maryland at College Park who studies emerging animal diseases. She recently released a paper reviewing bird flu in infections in cats between 2004 and 2024.

Barn cats that died after drinking raw milk were one of the first signs that dairy cows were becoming infected with bird flu in 2024. Since then, the Agriculture Department has confirmed more than 120 domestic cats infected with the virus across the U.S.

Infections have mostly been found in cats that died. Less is known about milder infections, whether cats can recover from bird flu — or whether the virus can spill over into people.

Coleman has been collecting blood samples from cats across the U.S. to see if they have evidence of previous exposure to the virus. But the process is slow and research funding is uncertain.
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