Feline friend or potential foe?

摘要

There are increasing numbers of reports from Asia and Europe of domestic cats dying from avian influenza H5N1 virus. The available evidence, albeit incomplete, suggests that cats are more than collateral damage in avian flu's deadly global spread and may play a greater role in the epidemiology of the virus than previously thought. Here we recommend that new precautions are taken by nations and agencies fighting avian flu to minimize the risk of cats becoming infected and spreading the highly pathogenic virus to poultry, humans and other species.