A few days after two members of an Ames, Iowa, family came down with the flu, they noticed their 13-year-old cat wasn’t feeling too well either. The cat has since become the first documented case of a feline with the new H1N1 virus, commonly called swine flu.
The unusual case has riveted pet owners and health officials. Companion animals have been known to contract flu from other species — canine influenza (H3N8) originated in horses, and cats contract avian influenza (H5N1) from eating birds. But this appears to be the first time a cat has contracted influenza from a human. Two pet ferrets, one in Oregon and one in Nebraska, have also tested positive for H1N1, and the virus has also been transmitted between humans and pigs. Read More…
