Oregon State Veterinarian Reports Possible Feline Fatality From H1N1 Influenza
Breaking news.
This morning I received another H1N1 influenza (swine flu) action alert from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
H1N1 update: Cat death in Oregon from presumed 2009 H1N1
November 18, 2009 – The Oregon state public health veterinarian has reported that a pet cat has died from presumed 2009 H1N1 influenza virus infection. The cat was one of 4 cats in the household and became ill approximately one week after a child in the household had a flu-like illness. It developed labored breathing and was presented to a veterinarian on November 4. The cat was not coughing or sneezing but had pneumonia. The cat’s condition deteriorated over the next 3 days, and it died on November 7. Samples were obtained and tested (PCR) positive for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. Additional samples were sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) for confirmation and are still pending. At this time this is a presumed, not confirmed, case of 2009 H1N1 influenza infection.
The three other cats in the household also became ill with different degrees of sneezing and coughing, but recovered from their illnesses. Samples collected from these cats were negative for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.
We continue to update our 2009 H1N1 influenza resources as soon as we receive and verify information. These resources are available at http://www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/new_virus/default.asp. We are also in the process of updating our “Frequently Asked Questions” document for veterinarians to include additional information about sampling and testing procedures, and anticipate the updated document will be posted within the next 24 hours. The document is linked from the H1N1 page or at http://www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/new_virus/new_flu_virus_faq_veterinarians.asp.
The messages to pet owners remain the same.
This is not cause for panic, but underscores the importance of taking pets to a veterinarian if they are showing signs of illness. This is especially important if someone in the household has recently been ill with flu-like symptoms. Ferret and cat owners should remain vigilant. To date, all of the sick pets became ill after a person in the household was ill with flu-like symptoms. There is no evidence to suggest that pets have or will spread the virus to humans or other animals. Proper hygiene and sanitation measures should be followed to limit the spread of the influenza virus.
The web page mentioned in the action alert is a great resource for breaking developments in the matter of swine flu in pets. I recommend that you check it regularly if you are interested in the subject.
You have questions. 
This is even more threatening than H1N1 virus!
Our 2 year old cat just died after eating just a small amount of the Asian Lily fresh cut flower:
As spring approaches, lilies will become more common in households as potted plants or in bouquets. According to Michigan State University Extension’s Grower Guide, Easter lilies are the third most important flowering pot-plant grown in the United States, with l0 to 11 million plants produced annually. Unfortunately, several types of lilies can be deadly to cats. Easter lily, tiger lily, rubrum, Japanese show lily, some species of day lily, and certain other members of the Liliaceae family can cause kidney failure in cats.
Within only a few hours of ingestion of the plant material, the cat may vomit, become lethargic, or develop a lack of appetite. These signs continue and worsen as kidney damage progresses. Without prompt and proper treatment by a veterinarian, the cat will develop kidney failure in approximately 36-72 hours.
All parts of these lilies are considered toxic to cats and consuming even small amounts can cause severe poisoning. If there is a lily in your home, there is always the chance that your cat could be accidentally exposed. For this reason, cat owners should avoid exposing their cats to plants of the Liliaceae and Hemerocallis family.
Lilies that have been shown to cause kidney failure in cats include:
COMMON NAMES SCIENTIFIC NAMES
Asian Lily
Easter lily Lilium longiflorum
Tiger lily Lilium tigrinum
Rubrum Lilium speciosum
Japanese show lily Lilium lancifolium
Day lily Hemerocallis species
I wish people would stop calling it the swine flu. The swine flu in North America is the same form of flu that caused the 1918 influenza. People who survived that epidemic became partially-immune to it, and it eventually transfered to pigs in a milder, mutated version that was non-lethal while the human version was still active. A/H1N1 is not the same as this milder, mutated version in pigs (though it does bear the same designation). It is a virus that resulted from the recombination of H1N2 (one of the strains we until recently dubbed “common flu”) and H5N1 (the avian flu). It may or may not have occurred in pigs first, but if (and that’s a big if: no way to prove it) that was the case it originated in Asia and was probably brought everywhere else by humans.
North American pigs cannot contract it at this time. Nor should most pets be able to contract it unless they are repeatedly exposed to the virus, and are already ill with another form of flu on top of that. In that case, the two viruses can recombine in a way that makes a deathly cocktail of viruses. It means that said flu is only specific to that cat, and cannot be transmitted back to other species in the household (though it can and might be transmitted to other cats, if it has mutated inside that cat enough to become communicable within the same species… and that takes time the virus may or may not have if it kills the host too quickly).
It sounds like the three other cats had whatever flu virus is common in cats, but did not encounter the repeated exposure to A/H1N1 that the cat who died did. Nor, it seems, did they contract whatever recombined form killed said cat.
Now, as for the article, it is absolutely right on all marks. Having worked with little kids for a living, I would add that if you have a child of school age (especially kinder or younger) who exhibits signs of the flu, you should probably quarantine that kid from your pet.
Honestly, little kids are germ factories, and they are more frequently prone to not blowing their nose properly, and having all sorts of excretions on their hands at any given time (I love kids, but that’s the honest truth). So a child’s caretaker should also remember to wash his/her hands after tending to a sick kid, and before using their hands to handle household pets, for whatever reason.
[...] Oregon State Veterinarian Reports Possible Feline Fatality From H1N1 Influenza (human to cat transmission risk) [...]