A domestic cat from New Orleans infected with avian flu, according to managers | Health care/hospitals

The first case of avian influenza was confirmed in New Orleans last week after detection of the H5N1 virus with a servant on January 14, according to the United States Ministry of Agriculture.

The Ministry of Agriculture has listed the case among other cases where the virus has appeared with mammals since May 2022. The Ministry of Wildlife and Fisheries of Louisiana and the Department of State Health have Not immediately responded to a request for comments on the case.

A domestic cat from Oregon died last month after eating cat food containing raw turkey. Cat food, which contained a variant of avian flu, corresponded to the disease that had infected the cat and was then recalled. The officials did not share what could have affected the feline of the Orleans parish or the current state of the animal.

Cooking meat and pasteurization of milk eliminate the virus, which encourages veterinarians to warn against the diet of animals with raw milk and meat products. The veterinarians also warned against letting cats wander outside, because they are natural hunters who tend to attack birds likely to contain the virus.

USDA officials have said that such cases of viruses are rarely spreading more, except in the case of cats living together at home.

Louisiana had an avian influenza case in men after a person contracted the virus from a flying of birds in their garden. The patient, over the age of 65 and suffering from underlying health problems, died at the beginning of the month after being hospitalized in December.

The Ministry of Health said that no evidence of transmission from person to person had been found in the case of the patient. Although the health risk of the general public to be infected with H5N1 remains low, people exposed to birds, poultry or cows run a higher risk.

At the beginning of the month, at least 66 people in the United States were confirmed by the H5N1 avian flu in 2024 and 2025. The epidemic, which started with dairy cows at the end of March, mainly touched people who were in contact With infected cows. representing around 60% of cases.

The city’s health service has sent all requests to the Louisiana Ministry of Health.