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Friday, January 17, 2025

Alert issued for Iowa pet owners on bird flu danger

Alert issued for Iowa pet owners on bird flu danger

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is advising Iowa pet owners to keep their cats and dogs away from sick or deceased wild birds and animals. Pet owners should also discourage indoor and outdoor cats from hunting wildlife because of the ongoing threat posed by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1 HPAI) circulating within wild and migratory birds.

The alert came to warn cat and dog owners, even though there is no report of the flu impacting canines. The big concern is for the health of cats. One cat was found to have symptoms in Hamilton County. The cat tested positive for the H5NI HPAI. Dr. Kate Rumsey, who serves as Assistant State Veterinarian, says “Know that they can be affected and they’re actually very susceptible. They become very, very sick and unfortunately, a lot of them will die from it and so we know that they could be infected if they are drinking raw milk that was one of the first ways that we became aware of it.”

There also needs to be awareness of what cats might be eating. Dr. Rumsey said “There’s also been a bunch of reports, especially out west in California and Oregon, of cats that consume raw pet food or raw meat and then they unfortunately will pass away from avian influenza. We want to make sure that our cat owners are aware of what the risk is we have unfortunately had one case here in Iowa.” She warns that cats, which may be hunters, are in danger if they encounter wild birds.

At the Iowa State Veterinary Medicine Small Animal Clinic, they have not had any reports of bird flu, but they are following reports in other states. The Iowa Department of Agriculture has a list of tips for pet owners to keep pets safe from bird flu:

  • Do not feed pets raw, undercooked, or unpasteurized frozen or freeze-dried milk, eggs, meat, or organs.
  • Cooking or heat-treating pet food to appropriate temperatures inactivates H5N1 HPAI.
  • Freeze-dried and frozen unpasteurized pet food is often considered raw and can pose a risk to pets.
  • Keep your pet away from livestock including poultry and dairy cattle.
  • Wash your hands and change your clothes after interacting with livestock and before interacting with pets.
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