The H5N1 virus, responsible for avian flu, was detected in a significant proportion of cats by a Toulouse researcher.
These felines are often infected by the birds they hunt.
If mortality remains low, the risk is mainly that of contamination to humans.
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The study is not alarming, but it is surprising. A Toulouse researcher was interested in the transmission of avian flu in cats. Result: the disease is much more widespread than has been observed until now, as shown in the TF1 news video at the top of this article.
A disease that is not very fatal for cats
Of the 578 blood samples tested, 13 were positive for the H5N1 virus. A proportion that Pierre Bessière, virologist at the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), considers important: “Potentially, this amounts to thousands or tens of thousands of cats who could have been infected in France.”
The virus is transmitted via birds, the favorite prey of cats. Once ill, they can experience serious respiratory distress and have convulsions, but mortality remains low. The main risk lies rather in transmission to the animal's owner: “A study was published in the Netherlands where there are up to 12% of positive cats, which is really considerable. It is therefore a possible infection in cats, and less rare than we thought”estimates the expert at the microphone of TF1. For him, a “awareness work among veterinary practitioners” must be carried out. Poland was the first European country to be seriously affected, starting last spring.
500 cow herds contaminated in California
For the moment, only one case of human contamination by the feline has been observed worldwide, in 2016. It is therefore not time to panic but scientists are calling for awareness, because the threat is not escalating. no longer only affects poultry farms, but also mammals. In 2022 and 2023, 97% of an elephant seal colony was decimated in Argentina, a first. Dairy cows are also affected: in the United States, more than 800 contaminated herds have been identified, including 500 in California alone, where a state of emergency has just been declared.
At least 61 people have contracted the virus across the Atlantic. “Basically the situation is that there is a lot of H5N1 in the United States. It is spreading to humans both through cattle, poultry and wild birds. Basically, it has created a risk of human exposure on a national scale.says Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada).
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The most important thing remains to detect viral mutations, especially in pigs, and genetic exchanges with human diseases such as seasonal flu. This would increase the risk of a pandemic, comparable to that of Covid-19. Hence the need to develop animal screening and vaccination kits because they are still insufficient.
