H5N1 is Already an Animal Pandemic Worth Grieving (and Adjusting Behavior Over)

The current iteration of the bird flu is now a true animal pandemic or panzootic. “Bird flu,” in fact, is now a woefully inadequate moniker for a virus that kills animals of so many species that science is having a hard time keeping up. The horrible deaths of particularly susceptible species, like exotic birds and large wild cats, locked in zoos which have become deathtraps of infection, form an indictment of the carelessness with which we tend to those whose natural lives we have usurped. These zoos should be closed and animals should be sequestered away from each other at this point. It is irresponsible not to take the precautions necessary to stop the spread of this disease which kills in such torturous ways. The neurological symptoms can include tremors, seizures and blindness before death.

Cats are particularly susceptible to this virus, much more so than dogs. The mortality rate in domesticated cats infected with H5N1 is about 70%. Probably many domesticated cats have died from bird flu without being counted in the official national tally. The ones getting the news coverage are largely those who ate raw food or drank raw milk, or who were exposed through direct contact with infected animals in a farm or other agricultural setting. While it has not been confirmed, don’t be surprised if we find out this virus is a direct result of the horrors of animal agriculture (torture). Viral mutation is a numbers game, and when you place billions of animals in disgustingly close, forced contact every hour of every day, the dice are rolled enough times to achieve that magic moment when the killer virus is able to jump species and begin its planetary massacre. It is greatly in the interests of our species to transition away from this now largely outmoded and unnecessary way of feeding ourselves.

Those of us who have fur kids need to spread the word about the dangers of any raw diet for cats or anybody else. While this particular iteration of bird flu is currently (stress: currently) not sickening many humans, that does not mean that we don’t have a moral obligation to think of other species and their well-being. Previous iterations of bird flu have had mortality as high as 50% in infected humans (!). Some animal species hit by this iteration have mortality figures close to 100%. Waterfowl are particularly hard hit. It’s now hitting my state of Pennsylvania particularly hard. Two hundred snow geese were found dead here recently. These are just the things we’re seeing. Nature is unimaginably large and hides much in her wildness, her wilderness. Think of all the species being decimated by this virus, the epidemiological carnage we are missing right now. It’s absolutely mind-boggling and heart-boggling. And the worst part is that I feel certain we are the ones responsible for this. Nature does create panzootics, but we are amping up this process enormously at this point. I don’t even want to think of what’s in store when terrorists get around to manipulating viruses and bacteria using the readily available and now affordable synth bio technology recently arrived on the scene. Imagine the current epidemiological overdrive times one thousand.

I’m wondering about some of those cross-species infections in zoos like the one in Arizona. Since H5N1 is spread through saliva, mucus, feces and direct contact with infected animals or contaminated surfaces, I’m wondering if most of those infections were caused by workers stepping in bird feces and trekking between cages. Since those different species should not have been in close contact, one has to wonder. While I realize the numbers of infections of domestic animals, pets, haven’t spiked right now, one might reasonably worry whether we should be concerned about stepping in the feces of wild birds and transferring this inoculum into our homes. Cats love rubbing on and sniffing shoes that have been outside walking all over the messy and smelly earth. I have started to isolate my shoes when I enter the house. I feed the wild birds and sometimes they go after the food of other animals that I am feeding nearby, even where I don’t expect them to be. And that can lead to feces I might step in. H5N1 seems to do a pretty good job of surviving in the wet and the cold. Frozen in raw food, it just waits for the thaw to be infectious again. Even at room temperature, it may be days before the infectivity in liquid food, say, finally plummets.

The first fatality from this current version of bird flu occurred this week in Louisiana. It was an elderly woman who was allegedly immunocompromised so her case might not be the typical scenario (or it might). Out of sixty-seven reported infections, only she died so far. But that hubristic feeling of impunity from this virus should not make us slacken in our responsibility to all the other species being killed by what very well might be a result of our agricultural excesses and the torture we already inflict on animals.

Please spread the word to pet owners (and particularly cat owners) to read up on this virus and do the things they need to do to protect their furry friends. Some companies have begun voluntary recalls of their raw products, but expect the usual greed from most companies. Pet stores should really stop stocking these raw pet foods or at the absolute least should post warnings in the store explaining the risk of feeding pets raw meat and raw milk at this time.

California has declared a state of emergency over H5N1. I hope that means they will do the right thing by closing and reorganizing zoos, isolating where necessary and testing. Residents of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania were warned this week not to be alarmed if they hear a large booming sound like weaponry north of the city. This would be the sound of nets being shot from guns to capture waterfowl in a public park for bird flu testing. (They will be tested and released, regardless of status.) The virus has spread to all fifty states now. It’s in 108 countries across five continents. It’s evolved to kill many different species of sea mammals and is even know to have claimed the life of at least one polar bear (probably many). So it is a true panzootic.

There are several existing vaccines which target H5N1 and new mRNA vaccines are in development. One hopes that vaccines will be developed for those species particularly hard-hit by this virus. It would be the moral and just thing for zoos and other exploiters of animals to lobby for the creation of animal vaccines. Cross-species vaccination approaches are being studied as well. Were you aware that Pasteur’s celebrated rabies vaccine actually conferred protection on both humans and dogs? We now use different vaccines for the two species, but the point is that this is a possible horizon in science.

I think the media owes it to the public to do a better and more comprehensive job of covering the current panzootic. It’s really shoved to the background and given short shrift, when it’s not a minor story. It’s going to spread and kill a lot more and I don’t think we’ve really anticipated all the destabilizing effects it could have on our health and even our economic concerns. It behooves us to try to assuage this planetary suffering, to see what solutions we can offer, especially when we may be the source of this scourge.