Are pet dogs and cats the weak link in bird flu surveillance?

Opportunities for pets to become infected by the bird flu virus are abundant but owners can take precautions like keeping them indoors and ensuring their don't eat raw meat. -- 123rf

WHEN researchers talk about their biggest bird flu fears, one that typically comes up involves an animal becoming simultaneously infected with an avian and a human flu. This creature, now a viral mixing vessel, provides the medium for a superbug to develop – one that takes the killer genes from the bird flu and combines it with the human variety’s knack for easy infection.

So far, domestic poultry and dairy cows have proved to be imperfect vessels. So too have the more than 48 other mammal species that have become infected by eating infected birds and then died.