What can be done to save our pets?

Recommendations
Areas where H5N1 HPAI has been diagnosed or is suspected in poultry or wild birds:

Report to the local veterinary authority any evidence of significant bird mortality both wild and domestic
Be especially vigilant for any dead or sick cats and report such findings to the local vet
Make sure contact between cats and wild birds or poultry (or their faeces) is avoided and/or keep cats inside
If cats bring a sick or dead bird inside the house, put on plastic gloves and dispense of the bird in plastic bags for collection by local veterinary animal handlers
Keep stray cats outside the house and avoid contact wit them
If cats show breathing problems or nasal discharge, a veterinarian should be consulted
Do not touch or handle any sick-looking or dead cat (or other animal) and report to the authorities
Wash hands with water and soap regularly and especially after handling animals and cleaning their litter boxes or coming in contact with faeces or saliva
Dogs can only be taken outside the premises if kept restraint
Do not feed any water birds
Disinfect (e.g. with bleach 2-3 %) cages or other hardware with which sick animals have been transported or been in contact with.
Wash animal blankets with soap or any other commercial detergent

Avian influenza in other animal species
Hosts: Wildbird hosts for H5N1 in order of importance are probably Anatidae (ducks, geese, swans), Charadriiform (gulls and shorebirds) and Passeriform (sparrows and starling). Lately swans have been found infected with H5N1 in a number of European countries (e.g. Austria, Germany, France and Romania, etc.). In poultry, both aquatic and terrestrial species become infected but the virus is particularly aggressive in chicken.

Carnivores: can become infected, after consuming infected poultry that succumbed to the disease. To date no H5N1 clinical cases of dogs have been reported but in an unpublished study carried out in 2005 by the National Institute of Animal Health in Bangkok, researchers tested 629 village dogs and 111 cats in the Suphan Buri district of central Thailand. Out of these, 160 dogs and 8 cats had antibodies to H5N1, indicating that they were infected with the virus or had been infected in the past. An eqiune virus has recently shown up in dogs. This inter-species re-assortment is not uncommon for type A influenza viruses.

Pigs are known “„mixing vessels” for different influenza virus subtypes and therefore present a risk for avian influenza virus re-asserting with a human influenza virus into a strain more apt to infect humans. Regarding the present H5N1 subtype, studies conducted in pigs in Vietnam yielded 8 animals out of the 3000 investigated pigs seropositive. None of the animals had any clinical signs and it was not possible to isolate any virus

Ruminants appear at lower risk. So far no cattle have been identified as carrying any influenza type A virus. Horses are susceptible to Influenza viruses but so far mainly H3N8 have been identified. Regular vaccination is carried out. Experimentally mice can be infected but their role in natural transmission has not been established.

Public health implications
Humans and other mammals need to come in contact with large amounts of virus to become infected. In case of an infection with H5N1, mammals and humans apparently only shed small amounts of virus, contributing to reduced risk of spread among themselves. Recent data from experimentally infected cats’ evidenced extra-respiratory replication of the H5N1 and excretion of virus in faeces of cats need to be taken into consideration. Hygienic practices need to be re-enforced, frequent washing of hands with water and soap especially after handling animals, cleaning cat litter boxes as well as before and after the preparation of food.

Occupational health and safety
Veterinarians and their staff are specifically at risk of coming into contact with infected cats, in case the disease becomes more widespread among this species. Normally, veterinarians and their staff engage in frequent hand washing and disinfect examination tables and instruments to reduce the general risk of disease transmission among their patients and to protect the persons present in the consultation room from eventual exposure.

Advice for veterinarians
The following is advised for veterinarians:

Advice to pet owners (see above)
Be ware of possibility to receive (sick) cats infected with H5N1
Take hygienic measures when handling sick cats (gloves and surgical masks)
Take deep oro-pharyngeal swabs of suspected animals (e.g. animals with respiratory problems) and sent them to the laboratory clearly indicating the type of examination requested Support cases to be reported to veterinary authorities
Inform owners of suspected animals and provide them with clear and practical information, avoiding creating any panic among cat owners or the general public.
Provide veterinarians are advised to contact the Veterinary Authorities in their respective countries for specific instructions

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/readings/index.html