Four more cats have tested positive for H5N1 bird flu in connection with a growing outbreak in dairy cows in the United States, according to state and federal officials, raising the number of cases in the current outbreak to seven.
Sonja Olsen, the Associate Director of Preparedness and Response at CDC’s Influenza Division, reported three new cases in cats on Thursday and state officials reported a fourth case on Friday.
“The reports we heard were of cats having neurologic symptoms, rapid decline, and death,” Olsen told BNO News.
Three of the new cases were found at two dairy farms in Curry County, New Mexico and all of them died, according to the state’s Agriculture Department. The fourth case was found at a dairy farm in Wood County, Ohio.