Science
Science
The 13-year-old mixed breed male, which is recovering, apparently caught the virus from his owner. But Michael San Filippo, a spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association, said there's no evidence that the flu strain can be transmitted from a pet to a person.
Dr. Anne Schuchat of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that animals can carry and spread flu viruses, but such cases are rare and people should not be afraid to enjoy their pets.
Among pets, cats and ferrets have previously been found to catch the swine flu strains from humans, and at least one cat and one ferret have died, San Filippo said.
He said the veterinary association is recommending that people with ailing pets wash their hands often. If swine flu is suspected in either owner or pet, he said, "isolate yourselves from each other, which we realize is only possible to some degree."
Ann Hohenhaus, spokeswoman for the Animal Medical Center in New York, said if a pet or an owner is sick, "Don't play kissyface with your dog or your cat or your ferret. You wouldn't with your kids if you were sick, so don't do it with your pet."
- Posted on December 23, 2009
How sad I have already heard of a cat having the swine flu now a dog. I am just so glad that that the animals that have the swine flu did not die. These animals arwe really lucky.
That is sad. pets getting sick and dying! I have dogs and they might get sick. I also have rats. what if they got sick. How scary and sad.
that kinda scares me because I have a dog and he is a great little puppy and well he isn't little but he is a puppy and he is as healthy as an ox.
To me its seems really weird that an animal could catch the swine flu. I was petting my cat yesterday
and either she was shedding or she had some kind of virus. I am a little worried because she has a small bare spot on her neck, no fur just the skin (i think that's what it's called).
the purpose in this article was that a dog got swine flu and the people thought that the owner gave him the flu but vets said that is not possible to give a animal human flu. The key point was that the dog got swine flu. I think this would make dog owner more cautious with their pets because they can also get swine flu.
This article was about a 13 year old dog that got the swine flu from the dog's owner. The dog survived, but there have been a few cases where at least one cat and ferret dies from the swine flu. It is very unusual for your pet to get the swine flu from you and is very rare, but we see it happening. Hopefully we will find a cure soon.