Twenty big cats – including a Bengal tiger and four cougars – have died of bird flu in a Washington state animal shelter in recent weeks.
“This tragedy has deeply affected our team and we all mourn the loss of these incredible animals,” the Washington-based Wild Felid Advocacy Center wrote in a post on Facebook.
The devastating viral infection transmitted by wild birds spreads primarily through respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact and can also be transmitted by mammals that consume birds or other products.
The sanctuary is under quarantine and closed to the public to prevent the spread of the virus, the statement said.
The animals died between late November and mid-December, said shelter director Mark Mathews New York Times.
“We have never experienced anything like this before; they mostly die of old age,” he said. “Nothing like that, it’s a pretty nasty virus.”
The news comes as bird flu continues to spread among cattle and poultry in the United States, also seriously infecting at least one person.
The shelter said it lost five African serval cats, four bobcats, two Canada lynxes and a Bengal tiger, among other animals. There are currently only 17 cats left at the center.
“Cats are particularly susceptible to this virus, which can cause subtle initial symptoms but spreads rapidly, often resulting in death within 24 hours due to pneumonia,” the shelter’s statement said Facebook statement on Friday.
Bird flu has long infected poultry flocks in the United States. But in March, the virus first began infecting cattle in the United States.
And since April 2024, a total of 61 human cases of bird flu have been reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC says the risk to the general public remains low and there has been no sustained person-to-person transmission.
Most have reported mild symptoms, although one person was hospitalized in Louisiana this month with a severe case of bird flu.
Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the outbreak among the state’s dairy cows to help the government have the “resources and flexibility needed to respond quickly to this outbreak.”
