More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

[Roehl_JC]

More ferrets in Oregon get swine flu from owners
By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
November 10, 2009, 12:48PM
More ferrets in Oregon have developed swine flu from their owners, fueling worries that the virus could jump from the pets to people.

?We are advising vets to take care because of the possibility of animal to human transmission,? said Emilio DeBess, the state public health veterinarian.

So far, the virus has only gone one way ? from owners to their ferrets.

In early October, the first case of human to ferret transmission of the H1N1 virus was documented by DeBess in the Portland area. Then at the end of last month, nine ferrets owned by a family in Roseburg came down with flulike symptoms, he said.

That was a week after two kids in the Roseburg family ? a teenager and a child younger than 10 ? got sick with the swine flu.

Like the kids, the ferrets developed high fevers, red eyes, runny noses and they were coughing and sneezing.

?If the ferrets could talk, they?d say ?Oh my God, my body aches,?? DeBess said.

Tests on three of the ferrets confirmed that they had the H1N1 virus. DeBess suspects that the others had the virus as well.

Ferrets, which mimic human flu symptoms, are used in labs researching the flu. DeBess said ferrets are especially susceptible to catching pneumonia.

A pet ferret in Nebraska that caught the H1N1 virus from its family died, and a cat in Iowa has come down with the virus, said Michael San Filippo, spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Pigs in Indiana have also contracted the virus along with swine in Canada and other countries. Two health inspectors were infected with the H1N1 virus when they visited the sick swine herd in Canada, San Filippo said.

?These are the only two cases that we know of of animals passing the virus to people,? San Filippo said. ?All the other cases involve are people passing it to animals.?

Still, DeBess has warned veterinarians in the state to protect themselves from sneezing and coughing ferrets and other pets. Owners need to take precautions as well, he said.

The virus passes from humans to ferrets ? or cats ? the same way it is transmitted among humans. Coughing and sneezing can spread the virus which can remain infectious for about a week outside the body. That means that owners ? and vets ? need to thoroughly wash their hands when handling sick pets or when they are sick.

The ferrets and their owners in both the Portland area and Roseburg are fine, DeBess said.

The flu season is far from over. So far, 942 people have been hospitalized with the H1N1 virus in Oregon and 30 people statewide have died. The state has sent up a Web page here with the latest information about influenza in Oregon.

-- Lynne Terry

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/more_ferrets_in_oregon_get_swi.html

[Rwilmer]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

Please pet owners. If your pet gets sick with flu-like symptoms. Take them to the vet.

[Jojo]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

I believe the transmission is only from people to pet right now is due to the fact that it's the person that brings it home to the pet.

I'm sure there is a possibility that it could pass from pet to person, if you had a animal that was in contact with other animals, like a kennel, dog park, dog sitter, vet, etc.

I haven't heard yet that a dog has contracted H1N1 (I really think it's just a matter of time.), just suspicions. A cat has, so if you had outdoor cats that mingle with other cats, could be a possibility.(?)

[Roehl_JC]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

I believe H1N1 would be able to infect any mammal, be it a dog, cat, ferret, lion, tiger, mink, otter, guinea pig, hamster...so all pet owners should be careful to avoid giving their own flu to their pets, and if pets get sick, consult a vet quickly, and then quarantine your pet from other animals and people. IMHO

[Zac]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

I believe H1N1 would be able to infect any mammal, be it a dog, cat, ferret, lion, tiger, mink, otter, guinea pig, hamster...so all pet owners should be careful to avoid giving their own flu to their pets, and if pets get sick, consult a vet quickly, and then quarantine your pet from other animals and people. IMHO

Are you aware of any cases of dogs being infected with H1N1 swine flu?

My understanding was the only common flu strain that infects dogs is an H3N8 strain that originated with horses.

I have read press accounts of cats getting swine flu though:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health...,7440266.story

[Roehl_JC]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

Sorry, thanks Zac, what I meant to state is that H1N1 has not as of this time infected all the mammals I mentioned, but it is adapted for all mammalian-cell hosts, but it just hasn't gotten any sustained dog2dog2dog or ferret2ferret2ferret sustainable transmissions going, so it can't be truly said to be pandemic in any species other than humankind at the mo'

So no dog deaths/illnesses from H1N1 reported in the MSM at this time as far as I'm aware. I'll definitely keep newshounding for that!

[Corn]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

Please pet owners. If your pet gets sick with flu-like symptoms. Take them to the vet.

What would a vet do for AH1N!?

[Roehl_JC]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

Corn's got a good question
Vets may know no more than the pet owner about the possibility their pet has caught the swine rrrr H1N1 flu. It's probably best to self-quarantine your pet and self til both are over the flu to minimize further transmission, but calling your vet and / or doc and consulting them promptly would be logical.

[Emily]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

I think this is where they identified and treated the case in a cat. There's some suggestions for owners and veterinarians.

http://vetmed.iastate.edu/vmpm/h1n1-frequently-asked-questions

[Corn]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

Human relationships with animals both wild and domestic are unpreventable. Take what you are reading in the news and multiply it by 100, 1000, 100,000.

To think we can do something is noble. The most we could try to do is SLOW the virus progression, but we cannot stop it.

It is man's commingling with the species that has brought a lot of this swine strain about and the continued commingling could possibly be our undoing.

We are not really going to change our practices and behaviors in the near future so all we can do is ride it out.

These coinfections are going on unnoticed everywhere.

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

What would a vet do for AH1N!?

Verify precisely which pathogen the ferret is suffering from. If it's other than influenza, there may be effective treatment.

.

[Corn]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

It's a no win situation.

They don't test people as it is mostly except hospitalized cases now.

They want to test factory farms more completely. Key word want.

There are tons of back yard growers and producers who do not test.

The only reason we know of the cat is positive is because the neighbor was a vet.

We feed the dogs and wild animals our scraps.

Wild animals and birds feed from the junk yards.

The virus is flushed into our rivers.

It's all out of and beyond our control within current standards, cost of doing business and lifestyles.

The other animals infected in this quadruple re assort will get the virus and sometimes pass it back re assorted. It's a big game of hot potatoes.

No one should be surprised at other species infections. We're just waiting for the other shoe to drop when we get back something we didn't give.

Testing everything and all is out of the question. There aren't enough kits, resources and labs.

And again with the hoarding of sequences and squed results what type of feed back do you expect from those in control? We're still awaiting results from dead crows from 2005.

SIP is SIP from everything. Even other species.

The real solution would lie in the killing of pets and other animals like they now cull domesticated birds, cattle and swine should the test come back with a variant or high path? and quarantine of a certain radius, Could you see that in LA?

The way people tend and care for their pets and animals is not universal and there are many who could not keep up or comply with bio security of animals.

There is NOTHING we can do that the guy next door won't undo.

The dye has been cast.

[Pathfinder]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ferrets catch swine flu in Douglas County

More wet noses are turning up with the swine flu as local veterinarians are finding pets who've caught the bug from their owners.

Veterinarians caution people with flu-like symptoms to exercise caution when handling their pets now, as the virus is jumping species.

Oregon so far has four cases in which it's believed the pandemic influenza H1N1 passed from humans to ferrets ? three of them from Douglas County.

Snoopy, one of nine ferrets belonging to Rice Hill resident Pauline Childers, started sniffling, sneezing and coughing in late October.

Then the other ferrets came down with the bug, said Childers' daughter, Jan Dermates.

So they called their veterinarian to figure out what they should do.

Alan Ross, owner of Companion Animal Clinic, had just read about a case in Portland in which a ferret tested positive for the flu and asked Childers to bring in the sickest three animals.

Test swabs sent to state and national laboratories came back positive ? H1N1.

Dermates said both she and her daughter had been moderately sick before the ferrets caught the flu. There was also a sick family member in the Portland ferret's case.

The ferret cases are significant.

?We had the first ferret in the U.S. that showed human to animal transmission,? said Emilio DeBess, State Public Health Veterinarian with the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association.

The Portland-based vet credited the clinical veterinarians around the state for noticing this new development in the virus.

Recently a cat in Iowa, whose owner had been sick, was also diagnosed with H1N1. There have been no reports of canines with H1N1, but DeBess preached caution with all pets, including birds.

Pets catch the virus and exhibit symptoms similar to humans. In all pet cases so far, sick owners are believed to have been the source of the illness.

?Everybody else knows enough to stay away, but pets cozy up,? Ross said.

Frequent hand washing, covering coughs and some isolation from sick family members is the preventative prescription.

As in humans, most cases are fairly mild, but vets identified the following symptoms as warranting medical attention: poor appetite, fever or lethargy.

Viruses jumping species is rare.

?Typically I'm not concerned about people with the flu spreading it to their pets ? they have their own viruses,? Ross said.

Local veterinarians say the number of sick pets is not alarming, but the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association is closely monitoring how this new element of H1N1 unfolds.

?It gets us concerned because there's the thought: Is it going to mutate into something nasty?? said Mary Herrera, owner and veterinarian at Sutherlin Veterinarian Hospital.

DeBess said that hasn't happened yet, despite some Internet reports.

?So the laundry list is going to start and it's going to be hard to keep track of stuff,? DeBess said. He added, however, that the OMVA is open to the possibility H1N1 could jump back to humans.

To better track viral activity, OMVA asks vets to test animals showing flu-like symptoms, especially after coming in contact with a sick person.

OMVA put both Ross' clinic and the Portland clinic on a ?fever watch,? in which people who worked with the sick ferrets were to monitor and report fevers occurring shortly after contact with the pets.

DeBess said neither clinic reported anyone getting sick.

Tammy Eichmann, owner and veterinarian at Countryside Veterinary Service in Canyonville, said she hasn't had to test for H1N1 yet.

However, she did say some staff members had had the flu in their families and the clinic was recommending pets be isolated.

Bailey Veterinary Clinic also reported no cases in large animals.

But Herrera believes she's had a cat case already.

?I had a kitty I was suspicious of the other day,? she said. ?The kitty came in pretty miserable and his little boy had just been diagnosed with H1N1.?

Ross and Herrera said the treatment at this point is mostly letting the virus run its course and monitoring pets to insure secondary infections don't set in.

Childers' ferrets were given antibiotics and were feeling fine Tuesday.

?They're back to their normal, ornery little selves,? Dermates said.

Childers was very happy.

?They're all back to feeling good and thank God for that, because these are my babies and I love them all,? she said.

http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20091111/NEWS/911119988/-1/rss03

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

It's a no win situation............

There is NOTHING we can do that the guy next door won't undo.

The dye has been cast.

Thankfully our marvelous immune system wins, in most cases.

.

[Farmer]

Re: More ferrets with H1N1 caught from owners in Oregon

It's a no win situation.

They don't test people as it is mostly except hospitalized cases now.

They want to test factory farms more completely. Key word want.

There are tons of back yard growers and producers who do not test.

The only reason we know of the cat is positive is because the neighbor was a vet.

We feed the dogs and wild animals our scraps.

Wild animals and birds feed from the junk yards.

The virus is flushed into our rivers.

It's all out of and beyond our control within current standards, cost of doing business and lifestyles.

The other animals infected in this quadruple re assort will get the virus and sometimes pass it back re assorted. It's a big game of hot potatoes.

No one should be surprised at other species infections. We're just waiting for the other shoe to drop when we get back something we didn't give.

Testing everything and all is out of the question. There aren't enough kits, resources and labs.

And again with the hoarding of sequences and squed results what type of feed back do you expect from those in control? We're still awaiting results from dead crows from 2005.

SIP is SIP from everything. Even other species.

The real solution would lie in the killing of pets and other animals like they now cull domesticated birds, cattle and swine should the test come back with a variant or high path? and quarantine of a certain radius, Could you see that in LA?

The way people tend and care for their pets and animals is not universal and there are many who could not keep up or comply with bio security of animals.

There is NOTHING we can do that the guy next door won't undo.

The dye has been cast.

Unless you keep pigs or fowl, the known risk of an influenza viral reassortment involving your pets is very low.

Do not euthanize your pets. Your spouse, children, co-workers and neighbors are a much bigger threat for potential H1N1 reassortment with another adapted influenza than your cat and dog.