Utah cat tests positive for H1N1 flu

Nov 16, 2009

DVM NEWSMAGAZINE


Prospector, Utah -- What's believed to be the second case of an H1N1-infected cat surfaced in Utah, and one of the cat's owners also tested positive for the virus.

Like the cat diagnosed with H1N1 last week in Iowa, the most recent case involves a 13-year-old domestic shorthair spayed female that presented with breathing problems, Dr. Carl Prior, owner of Park City Animal Hospital, tells DVM Newsmagazine. Prior and his associate, Dr. Angela West, treated the cat, which the owner described as breathing with its mouth open.

“I was thinking pneumonia or cancer of the lungs, it looked so sick,” says Prior, who first saw the cat Nov. 3 – the day the story broke of the H1N1 case in the Iowa cat.

The cat was placed in an oxygen chamber set at about 50 percent for the first hour, then reduced over the next four to five hours, he says. Once the cat relaxed, he was able to take X-rays and blood samples. The blood test showed a low white blood cell count, and a human A/B-type influenza test obtained locally came back positive, Prior says.

He and West hadn’t really considered H1N1 until the story of the Iowa cat broke later that day, and they realized at least one of the owners had a confirmed case. Staff members had mentioned they were upset the owner had come into the clinic at all, since she said she had been confirmed to have H1N1. Another member of the household was believed to have H1N1, but that case was not confirmed, Prior says.

A test from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine's diagnostic laboratory, and it came back seropositive, he says. So Iowa sent more samples, including a PCR test, which came back negative. Prior says officials at the school were surprised at the negative reading, but told him their cat had tested the same way.

Perhaps the virus isn't shed for very long, Prior suggests, adding that a follow-up blood test at Iowa again confirmed a positive H1N1 diagnosis.

The cat's health improved after several hours in the clinic with antibiotics and oxygen care and was sent home the night it was brought in, Prior says. He and West will continue to monitor the cat, checking its serum every few weeks, he says, adding that another cat in the household will be tested too. It hasn't shown any signs of illness, Prior says, but he will monitor to see whether cat-to-cat transmission may occur.

Prior expected more testing requests since the first H1N1 cat case surfaced, but his clients are asking more questions. Treat the animals like a sick family member, Prior advises, avoiding them if they are sick themselves and isolating them from other pets that might be ill.

ht Dutchy