CDC, then removes, data on the distribution of bird flu between cats, people

Cats that were infected with bird flu could extend the virus to a person in one household, and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared on the Internet in the report on the Centers of Control and Disease Prevention, but then disappeared sharply. The data seemed to be mistakenly posted, but include decisive information about the risks of bird flu to humans and pets.

In one household, an infected cat may have spread the virus to another cat and a teenager of a person, according to a copy of the data table obtained by the New York Times. The cat died four days after the onset of symptoms. In the second household, a dairy farm worker is infected with the first to find symptoms, and the cat then became ill in two days and died on the third day.

The table was a lonely mention of the bird flu in a scientific report published on Wednesday, which was otherwise devoted to the quality of air and the fires of the Los -Angeles County. The table was not present in the embargo on the document that shared with the news on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions that are now available on the Internet. The table appeared brief about 1pm when the paper was first published, but it is unclear how and why an error could happen.

The virus called H5N1 is mainly adapted to birds, but it circulates in dairy cattle since the beginning of last year. H5N1 also infected at least 67 Americans, but has not yet been able to spread easily between people. Only one American, in Louisiana, has so far died of H5N1 infection.

The report was part of the prestigious CDC incidence and mortality report, which was regularly published a week ago from the first installment of decades ago. But the prohibition of communications at the agency was holding back reports until a fire report was published on Wednesday.

Experts noted that the conclusion that cats could pass the virus to people was not quite unexpected. But they alerted that the conclusion was not yet released for the public.

“If there is new evidence of H5N1, which are supported for political purposes, it is simply completely contrary to the government, which is the protection of the American people,” said Jennifer Nutzo, Director of the Pandemic Center in Brown University of Public Health.

It was important that the CDC immediately published complete data and context in which they were collected for other scientists, she said.

Scientists have long known that cats are very susceptible to the virus. At least 85 home cats have been infected since the end of 2022, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

But there have not been documented cases of cats that transmit the virus to humans.

“Given the number of cats in the United States and close contact with people, there is probably a need to understand the potential risk,” said Dr. Diego Diael, veterinarian and virusologist at Cornell University.

Although cats can be infected when they hunt infected wild birds, cases of domestic cats in the United States began to grow last year when the virus spread through dairy farms. On many farms, dead cats were the first signal that the cows were infected. The last few cases of pets have also been associated with contaminated raw food or raw milk.

H5N1 is often fatal in cats that can develop severe neurological symptoms.

Historically, H5N1 has primarily influenced birds. But over the last few years, new versions of the virus have been able to infect a wide range of mammals, including wild and domestic cats, seals and dairy cows. Mammalian infections give the virus more opportunities to develop in ways that can be easier to infect people.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.