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World First as Swine Flu Hits US Cat
The domestic shorthair, a 13-year-old castrated male, apparently caught A(H1N1) off its owners -- two of the three members of the family had previously contracted the deadly virus.
"This is the first cat that we are aware of with the pandemic H1N1," said Brett Sponseller, an assistant professor of veterinarian microbiology who helped treat the pet at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
After ruling out most common causes of respiratory diseases, a team of university and state vets looked at the family history of the owners and guessed swine flu might be the cause.
After five days of tests, their fears were confirmed.
"This was a big deal and everyone involved understood that," said Sponseller, adding that the owners had since recovered and that the cat had been given extra fluids and antibiotics and was "doing very well."
Cats have previously been diagnosed with H5N1, a virus commonly known as bird flu that spread from poultry to humans, but this is thought to be a first for swine flu and has possible implications for the feared pandemic.
Sponseller said the danger of an infected cat spreading the A(H1N1) virus to humans or to other cats was unknown but didn't appear to be high.
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