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The first bird flu infection of a mammal in Korea was confirmed on Monday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service confirmed that the cause of death of a cat found dead in marshland along the Mangyeong River in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, in late April was a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu virus, H5N1.
The College of Veterinary Medicine at Chungnam National University asked the national quarantine service to verify the exact cause of death. The Ministry said unlike poultry, cats do not transfer the highly pathogenic strain to humans. The virus found in the cat was the same strain that killed thousands of poultry in April.
"The virus discovered in poultry in April can infect mammals, but the kind has never been found to infect humans,Ħħ said Joo Yi-Seok, head of the Department of Animal Disease Control at the NVRQS. "Because cats do not have a strong enough system to reproduce the bird flu virus in their bodies, there is no risk of cats spreading the virus. There is no known case around the world of humans being infected with the virus by cats."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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