Hen flu has been on the rise in Washington state and one sanctuary was hit laborious: 20 massive cats – greater than half of the ability’s inhabitants – died over the course of weeks.
The Wild Felid Advocacy Heart of Washington introduced the deaths Friday on Facebook. The nonprofit sanctuary is in Shelton, about 22 miles northwest of Olympia.
“It’s been one massive nightmare. I by no means thought one thing like this is able to occur to us,” the middle’s director and cofounder Mark Mathews informed CNN affiliate KOMO. “Perhaps solely in a facility that had cats close to one another, and ours are unfold out over 5 acres.”
It’s at present unknown precisely how the large cats contracted chicken flu, however Mathews stated the primary dying occurred round Thanksgiving.
The 20 animals that died embody: 5 African Servals, 4 bobcats, 4 cougars, two Canada Lynxes, one Amur-Bengal tiger combine and different species of massive cats.
“Tabbi, she was my favourite tiger,” Mathews informed KOMO. “Earlier than Thanksgiving, we had 37 cats. As we speak, we now have 17 cats, (together with) 4 recovering.”
The sanctuary is underneath quarantine and closed to the general public to forestall additional unfold of the chicken flu, it stated in an announcement. The middle stated it’s working with federal and state animal well being officers, disinfecting every enclosure and dealing with veterinarians on “prevention methods whereas they oversee therapy to guard animal welfare.”
The sanctuary hopes to reopen within the new yr, in response to the middle’s website.
Whereas it’s unknown how the large cats contracted the chicken flu, the sanctuary stated it “spreads primarily via respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact and can be contracted by carnivorous mammals that ingest birds or different merchandise,” the middle said in its statement.
Cats are notably weak to chicken flu, which may trigger refined preliminary signs which will “progress quickly, typically leading to dying inside 24 hours on account of pneumonia-like situations,” the middle stated. Signs embody low vitality, swelling of physique components, lack of coordination and diarrhea in pet birds, whereas cats and canine might expertise a fever, lethargy and low urge for food, amongst different signs, in response to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
“Normally, when a vet comes out they usually do immobilization, they begin to really feel higher, and with Harley (the cougar), it was completely different as a result of he made it fairly apparent he wasn’t feeling higher after his therapy,” sanctuary worker Jolie Connolly-Poe informed KOMO.
The Washington Division of Fish and Wildlife reported earlier this month chicken flu circumstances have been on the uptick throughout the state. It additionally confirmed two cougars contracted chicken flu in one other a part of the state.
“(I’m) feeling devastated, type of in shock. It simply feels horrible that you just take such excellent care of them, after which one thing unexpected takes its toll actual quick,” Connolly-Poe stated. The middle is “simply taking excellent care of these recovering.”
Within the 20 years for the reason that sanctuary opened, Mathews informed KOMO there hasn’t been an occasion like this earlier than. The middle is taking further precautions to keep away from an additional unfold of chicken flu as they put together to disinfect all the pieces.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated it’s “uncommon for folks to be contaminated with chicken flu viruses via contact with contaminated wild, stray, feral, or home mammals” however it’s doable if there’s “extended and unprotected publicity” to the sick animal.
There have been 39 circumstances of human publicity from cows, 23 from poultry and one from different animal publicity this yr.
CORRECTION: An earlier model of this story undercounted the variety of circumstances of human publicity to chicken flu from animals.
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