Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency in California over bird flu spreading in cattle there. Now, in a different West Coast state, nearly two dozen big cats have died at a sanctuary of H5N1. At least 20 animals at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center in Shelton, Washington—including a Bengal tiger, four bobcats, four cougars, and a lynx—succumbed after contracting avian influenza between late November and mid-December, says center founder Mark Mathews, per the Guardian. One cat as of Tuesday was still in critical condition, while three others had recovered from the virus, he notes.
"We've never had anything like it; they usually die basically of old age," Mathews tells the New York Times, noting the virus could've spread through bird droppings or infected meat that the cats ate. "Not something like this. It's a pretty wicked virus." In a statement, the center notes that more than half of its wild cats contracted the disease, and that "cats are particularly vulnerable to this virus, which can cause subtle initial symptoms but progress rapidly, often resulting in death within 24 hours due to pneumonia-like conditions." It adds that the center is under quarantine and closed to the public for now as the habitats are sanitized, which could take months. (A house cat in Oregon died after eating frozen cat food that tested positive for bird flu, spurring a recall.)
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