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C.D.C. Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People
The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.
Listen to this article · 4:01 min Learn more
Scientists have long known that cats are highly susceptible to the virus, but there had not previously been any documented cases of cats passing the virus to people.
By Apoorva Mandavilli and Emily Anthes
Feb. 6, 2025
Updated 6:49 p.m. ET
Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. The data appear to have been mistakenly posted but includes crucial information about the risks of bird flu to people and pets.
In one household, an infected cat might have spread the virus to another cat and to a human adolescent, according to a copy of the data table obtained by The New York Times. The cat died four days after symptoms began. In a second household, an infected dairy farmworker appears to have been the first to show symptoms, and a cat then became ill two days later and died on the third day.
The table was the lone mention of bird flu in a scientific report published on Wednesday that was otherwise devoted to air quality and the Los Angeles County wildfires. The table was not present in an embargoed copy of the paper shared with news media on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions currently available online. The table appeared briefly at around 1 p.m., when the paper was first posted, but it is unclear how or why the error might have occurred.
more... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-bird-flu-cats-people.html
The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.
Listen to this article · 4:01 min Learn more
Scientists have long known that cats are highly susceptible to the virus, but there had not previously been any documented cases of cats passing the virus to people.
By Apoorva Mandavilli and Emily Anthes
Feb. 6, 2025
Updated 6:49 p.m. ET
Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. The data appear to have been mistakenly posted but includes crucial information about the risks of bird flu to people and pets.
In one household, an infected cat might have spread the virus to another cat and to a human adolescent, according to a copy of the data table obtained by The New York Times. The cat died four days after symptoms began. In a second household, an infected dairy farmworker appears to have been the first to show symptoms, and a cat then became ill two days later and died on the third day.
The table was the lone mention of bird flu in a scientific report published on Wednesday that was otherwise devoted to air quality and the Los Angeles County wildfires. The table was not present in an embargoed copy of the paper shared with news media on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions currently available online. The table appeared briefly at around 1 p.m., when the paper was first posted, but it is unclear how or why the error might have occurred.
more... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/health/cdc-bird-flu-cats-people.html
