France: Cat infected with avian influenza
A domestic cat was found to have been infected with avian influenza, and euthanised after suffering severe neurological symptoms. It is the first case of its kind in France.
The cat, which lived in Mauléon, Deux-Sèvres in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, picked up the virus from a nearby poultry farm that raised ducks.
First of its kind in France.
A few days before the virus was discovered in the cat, 8,000 birds at a nearby farm were slaughtered due to a bird flu outbreak.
More than 21 million birds were slaughtered in France from mid-November 2021 to mid-May 2022 due to bird flu outbreaks.
It is important to note that cats, as well as other domesticated animals such as dogs, pigs, and ferrets, can be infected with avian influenza viruses, but they appear to play a limited role in the transmission and spread of these viruses to other animals or humans.
