Top line
Bird flu has spread among farm mammals in at least five states this year, and health agencies note that pets such as cats and dogs may be susceptible if exposed to infected animals, although transmission to humans is unlikely.
a dog and a cat looking out the window together
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Key facts
Avian influenza (also called bird flu) refers to a group of potentially fatal infections caused by avian influenza type A viruses and usually infects domestic birds and wild migratory birds.
Although bird flu is usually spread between birds, it is possible for the infection to spread to mammals such as pet dogs and cats, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pets can contract bird flu if they eat or are exposed to sick or dead birds that are infected with the virus, and cats are the most susceptible pets to become infected, according to the Kentucky Department of Public Health.
Although it can happen, the chances of people contracting bird flu from their pet dogs and cats are extremely unlikely, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Symptoms of bird flu in cats and dogs include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, conjunctivitis (or pink eye), and neurological signs such as seizures and tremors, and death is also a possible outcome.
Key background
The Department of Agriculture announced that bird flu was detected in dairy herds in Texas and Kansas on March 25. The agency later found that dairy herds in Michigan, New Mexico and Idaho were also infected. Minnesota also reported a case of bird flu in a goat on March 20, the first case of infection in a “domestic ruminant” in the U.S., meaning many common grazing mammals in the U.S., including domestic cattle, according to the AVMA. On April 1, Texas officials announced the second known case of a strain of bird flu, called H5N1, in a person in the U.S. that spread from exposure to cattle. The first occurred in 2022, when a person in Colorado contracted the disease from infected poultry. This case “does not change the risk to the general public, which remains low,” according to a statement from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The patient reported red eyes as the only symptom and was treated with antiviral medication, the CDC reported. Although human infection is rare, there were 887 reported cases between January 2003 and February 2024 in 23 countries, according to the World Health Organization. The virus can be extremely dangerous for people who are infected, as 52% of these cases have resulted in death.
Tangent
A New York City veterinarian was infected with H5N7, a type of bird flu virus, after caring for infected cats admitted to an animal shelter in November 2016, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Disease. The cat died a few days later, and further testing found that the virus had spread throughout the facility to several other cats at the shelter, although other animals such as dogs were not infected. No one who came into contact with these cats — including the 165 volunteers and staff and more than 180 adopters — was suspected of having the disease, except for the visiting veterinarian. This person had prolonged exposure without face protection to infected cats and their secretions. The vet had a mild illness that included a sore throat, cough and muscle aches, although they were treated and cured with medication without hospitalization.
Surprising fact
The Food and Drug Administration has approved several bird flu vaccines for humans. The U.S. has a small stockpile of vaccines for two bird flu viruses (H5N1 and H7N9), but that would not be enough to vaccinate all Americans if a human outbreak broke out. If a human outbreak occurs, the government plans to mass produce vaccines, which could take at least six months to produce enough for the entire population. Sequirs, the maker of one of the approved vaccines, expects to have 150 million vaccines ready within six months of declaring a bird flu pandemic. With 8 billion people on the planet, this means that less than 2% of the world’s population will receive a vaccine after the first six months of a potential outbreak.
