A Michael Broad Blog
Introduction In early 2025, several U.S. pet food companies initiated recalls of raw cat food products due to concerns over contamination with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1, commonly known as bird flu. These recalls were prompted by confirmed cases of the virus in domestic cats, some of which resulted in fatalities. The incidents …
There is a recent story in the online news media of 20 ‘big cats’ (not all are classic big cats as the list includes four bobcats, one lynx and four pumas) contracting bird flu (H5N1) and dying. It is the biggest outbreak of bird flu in a cat zoo that I have read about. …
Could pet cats or dogs trigger an avian influenza pandemic? by Michael Broad In answering the question in the title, the first box to tick is on the issue as to whether avian flu is a zoonosis by which I mean can it be transferred from animals to people and between species of animal? …
List of some notable zoonotic diseases that can be carried by domestic cats in an Infographic by Michael Broad It is my personal belief that for some people there is an irrational fear of zoonotic diseases affecting cats. Or there are people who have an anti-cat agenda because they are predators killing native species …
Well, I have summarized some information about the possible transmission of bird flu to domestic cats in an infographic as I think it is a nice way to present this kind of info. A point worth making, I believe, is that a lot has been written about bird flu (H5N1) on the internet and …
Mpox is a global emergency and my research indicates that it is a zoonosis (zoonotic disease) which means it can be transferred between animals and people (and vice versa) and further, it seems entirely possible that pets can carry the disease. The point here is that it seems possible that domestic cats can transfer …
This post is obliquely related to cats which is why I decided to publish it here. But it is mainly about dogs. Specifically, dogs on walks in the countryside where there are cattle. Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite. It’s a microscopic, single-celled organism that can cause significant problems for animals, particularly cattle and …
Avian influenza A(H5N1) in dairy cattle was passed to 12 out of 24 farm cats in raw milk and through direct contact on a single Texas farm and the effect was devasting (see quote below). RELATED: avian flu H5N1 Avian influenza, often termed “highly pathogenic,” particularly refers to strains of the virus that are …
