Hen flu kills 20 felines at Washington wildlife sanctuary

Twenty huge cats, together with a Bengal tiger and 4 cougars, have died from chook flu in current weeks at a wildlife sanctuary in Washington state.

“This tragedy has deeply affected our workforce and we’re all mourning the lack of these unimaginable animals,” the Wild Felid Advocacy Middle in Washington wrote in a Fb put up.

The devastating viral an infection, carried by wild birds, is unfold primarily by way of respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact and can be contracted by mammals that ingest birds or different merchandise.

The sanctuary is below quarantine and closed to the general public to stop the unfold of the virus, the assertion mentioned.

The animals died between late November and mid-December, sanctuary director Mark Mathews advised the New York Times.

“We have by no means seen something like this; they often die of outdated age,” he mentioned. “Not something like that, it’s a fairly nasty virus.”

The information comes as avian flu continues to unfold amongst cattle and poultry in the US, whereas critically infecting at the least one human.

The sanctuary mentioned it misplaced 5 African serval cats, 4 bobcats, two Canada lynx and a Bengal tiger, amongst others. There are actually solely 17 cats left on the Middle.

“Cats are significantly weak to this virus, which may trigger refined preliminary signs however progress quickly, usually resulting in loss of life inside 24 hours attributable to pneumonia-like circumstances,” the sanctuary mentioned in its assertion. Facebook Statement Friday.

Avian flu has lengthy contaminated poultry flocks in the US. However the virus first started infecting livestock in the US in March.

And since April 2024, a complete of 61 human instances of chook flu have been reported in the US, in response to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.

The CDC says the danger to most of the people stays low and there was no sustained human-to-human transmission.

Most reported delicate signs, though one particular person was taken to the hospital this month for a extreme case of chook flu in Louisiana.

Final week, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the outbreak among the many state’s dairy cows, to assist the federal government have the “sources and suppleness that he wants to reply rapidly to this epidemic.”