“Home cats are literally extremely prone to avian influenza, and particularly H5N1,” mentioned Kristen Coleman, an infectious illness researcher on the College of Maryland. “However there was a current uptick in home cat infections, a drastic uptick.”

There have been sporadic experiences of contaminated canine, too.

Whereas fowl flu infections of pets stay uncommon total, they are often extreme, particularly in cats. “It leads to very extreme sickness and oftentimes demise,” Dr. Coleman mentioned. “So it’s very critical, and it must be taken significantly.”

However a number of “affordable precautions” might help folks preserve their pets secure, she mentioned.

Right here’s what to know:

How are cats getting fowl flu?

On dairy farms, cats have been contaminated after ingesting unpasteurized milk, also called uncooked milk, which incorporates very excessive ranges of the virus, from sick cows. Greater than 80 % of affected dairy farms had cats on their premises, and greater than half of these farms reported sick or useless cats, based on federal information launched on Thursday.

However even earlier than the current dairy outbreak, there have been experiences of contaminated cats, a few of which most likely caught the virus after they preyed upon contaminated birds. “As we get extra useless, wild birds on the panorama, if we get extra useless poultry on the panorama, these carnivores which will get into them and ingest them, even after they’re useless, are getting only a large dose of virus,” mentioned Dr. Justin Brown, a wildlife veterinarian at Penn State.

A couple of bigger outbreaks have additionally been linked to contaminated uncooked poultry. In 2023, as an example, fowl flu outbreaks hit two cat shelters in Seoul. Authorities investigators there subsequently discovered the virus in uncooked duck meat fed to the cats.