This is the first-time bird flu has infected so many cats over a wide area. House cats are dying from the virus. This is an extremely critical situation in Poland and part of a wider problem we are witnessing across the continent for animal welfare and public health. Bird flu is a looming pandemic.
"It seems governments have not learnt their lesson post COVID-19,
over the past few years we witnessed the largest avian influenza
outbreak worldwide, and now, as we have seen, house cats are dying
from the virus".
~ Wendla Beyer, FOUR PAWS Policy Coordinator
European Food Safety Authority urges people in Poland to keep their
pets indoors. VIENNA – The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has
urged people in Poland to keep their pets indoors after an outbreak
of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), commonly referred to as
bird flu, has continued to spread across the country.
The EFSA stated, "It is recommended to avoid exposure of domestic
cats and dogs, and in general carnivore pets, to dead or diseased
animals."
A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that
forty-six cats in the region were tested and 29 were found to be
carrying the disease. The WHO stated, “This is the first report of
high numbers of cats infected with avian influenza spread over a
wide geographical area within any country.”
The source of the HPAI outbreak has still yet to be determined.
FOUR PAWS, the global animal welfare organisation, has said the
situation in Poland is “extremely critical” and a “part of a wider
problem across Europe.”
This follows from over the weekend were four fur farms in southern
Finland, raising the total up to five, experience an outbreak of
HPAI, all of which were currently being investigated by the Finnish
Food Authority. This coincides with five dogs and a cat in Italy
being diagnosed, while at the same, just off the coast in the United
Kingdom, 330 seagulls' carcasses were found on the local beaches
after bird flu was officially detected at a nearby farm.
Wendla Beyer, said, “This is the first-time bird flu has infected so
many cats over a wide area. This is an extremely critical situation
in Poland and part of a wider problem we are witnessing across the
continent for animal welfare and public health. Bird flu is a
looming pandemic."
“This virus needs to be taken seriously and coordinated action needs
to tackle the root causes of this panzootic, especially as the
source of these infections in cats has yet to be identified and
there are no policies in place to address the underlying problem
that has caused HPAI to spiral out of control: intensive farming.”
In 2021/22, HPAI, reached unprecedented geographic spread across
continents and record outbreaks, with 50 million poultry culled over
that time in Europe alone.