TY - JOUR AU - Leschnik, Michael AU - Weikel, Joachim AU - Möstl, Karin AU - Revilla-Fernández, Sandra AU - Wodak, Eveline AU - Bagó, Zoltan AU - Vanek, Elisabeth AU - Benetka, Viviane AU - Hess, Michael AU - Thalhammer, Johann G. T1 - Subclinical Infection with Avian Influenza A H5N1 Virus in Cats T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2007 VL - 13 IS - 2 SP - 243 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Avian influenza A virus subtype H5N1 was transmitted to domestic cats by close contact with infected birds. Virus-specific nucleic acids were detected in pharyngeal swabs from 3 of 40 randomly sampled cats from a group of 194 animals (day 8 after contact with an infected swan). All cats were transferred to a quarantine station and monitored for clinical signs, virus shedding, and antibody production until day 50. Despite unfamiliar handling, social distress and the presence of other viral and nonviral pathogens that caused illness and poor health and compromised the immune systems, none of the cats developed clinical signs of influenza. There was no evidence of horizontal transmission to other cats because only 2 cats developed antibodies against H5N1 virus. KW - Cats KW - influenza A KW - virus subtype H5N1 KW - natural infection KW - transmission KW - birds KW - susceptibility KW - research KW - Austria DO - 10.3201/eid1302.060608 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/13/2/06-0608_article ER - End of Reference