This is likely airborne, huh? Any idea what the incubation period is for cats? I’m seeing mixed information, but read that symptoms seem to progress very quickly. My cats are indoor only, but we usually have some fosters around, and I’m worried that we may need to put that on pause.
This study suggests that this strain is capable of spreading via airborne water droplets. Right now there have been, to my knowledge, no cases of human to human infection confirmed, but that same study also suggests that it appears to be possible. As for cat to cat or human to cat transmission, nobody seems to know yet.
The influenza virus is capable of rapid mutation, though. That’s why we need a different vaccine for it every year. Plus, the more infections there are in a given population, be it people, cattle, or poultry, the more chances there are that the virus could mutate into a form that can spread more easily to other species. Right now, there is a massive outbreak in dairy and poultry farms in parts of the USA which means the virus is getting lots of chances to do that.
Thanks! In terms of fostering, my primary concern is cat to cat, although I probably should worry about cat to human also. My resident cats are otherwise healthy and I keep them up to date on their vaccinations, but at least so far, it doesn’t sound like that’s good enough.
The researchers next housed uninfected ferrets in cages next to infected ones to test whether the virus could spread through the air via respiratory droplets. They performed four separate experiments using ferrets infected with varying doses of the virus. Between 1 in 6 and 1 in 3 infected ferrets transmitted the virus to uninfected neighbors. Five of the six ferrets who became infected in this way died.
In my case, they would effectively be housed in separate cages (rooms of my home) for an initial quarantine period, but I would be going back and forth between those rooms without changing my clothes.
This is likely airborne, huh? Any idea what the incubation period is for cats? I’m seeing mixed information, but read that symptoms seem to progress very quickly. My cats are indoor only, but we usually have some fosters around, and I’m worried that we may need to put that on pause.
Full disclosure: I am not an expert.
This study suggests that this strain is capable of spreading via airborne water droplets. Right now there have been, to my knowledge, no cases of human to human infection confirmed, but that same study also suggests that it appears to be possible. As for cat to cat or human to cat transmission, nobody seems to know yet.
The influenza virus is capable of rapid mutation, though. That’s why we need a different vaccine for it every year. Plus, the more infections there are in a given population, be it people, cattle, or poultry, the more chances there are that the virus could mutate into a form that can spread more easily to other species. Right now, there is a massive outbreak in dairy and poultry farms in parts of the USA which means the virus is getting lots of chances to do that.
Thanks! In terms of fostering, my primary concern is cat to cat, although I probably should worry about cat to human also. My resident cats are otherwise healthy and I keep them up to date on their vaccinations, but at least so far, it doesn’t sound like that’s good enough.
In my case, they would effectively be housed in separate cages (rooms of my home) for an initial quarantine period, but I would be going back and forth between those rooms without changing my clothes.