Health
With the arrival of the flu season, which usually peaks in November, veterinarians are starting to warn that people can infect their pets with the disease. The particularly dangerous H1N1 influenza virus has raised strong concerns in recent years, as some sick people have transmitted it to their pets.
Veterinary Pathology, for example, published an article about an Oregon woman who fell ill with a severe form of the flu and was hospitalized. While she was in hospital, her cat, who lived exclusively at home and did not come into contact with other sick people or other animals, died from pneumonia caused by H1N1 infection.
Since then, researchers have discovered 13 more cats and 1 dog that were infected by this vicious virus in 2011 and 2012, and they contracted the virus from humans. Domestic ferrets, as it turned out, can also become ill, in some cases fatal. All the animals' symptoms were similar to those of humans: they quickly developed respiratory problems, stopped eating and sometimes died. Serological studies suggest that there are far more cases of influenza infection in cats and dogs than previously thought.
“We're very concerned about zoonosis, diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans,” says Christiane Loehr of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Oregon . – But most people don't understand that humans can also transmit diseases to animals, which raises questions and concerns about mutations, new forms of viruses and the emergence of diseases that are potentially may become zoonotic.”
Whenever a new species of animal becomes infected with a viral infection, this is a cause for concern, as this turn of events is fraught with a lot of incomprehensible things. Scientists are not sure exactly what the complications may be, but in any case, this requires more attention.
This phenomenon is called “reverse zoonosis”. About 80-100 million families in the US have cats or dogs, so the situation could be a disaster if viruses mutate and spread to other species. Influenza viruses in humans are often isolated from birds and pigs. This is due to the fact that these animals are more thoroughly tested as they are eaten.
“All viruses can mutate, but the influenza virus is very worrying, as it can change entire segments of the viral genome sequence quite easily,” said Professor Loer. “We need learn more about this.”