Bird Flu Sparks Warning for Pet Owners: 'Take Great Caution'

Pet owners have been advised not to feed their animals raw milk, following the spread of bird flu among dairy cows.

Former dairy veterinarian Dr. Meghan Davis, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, shared advice for Newsweek readers on how pet owners can take preventive measures to ensure their pets remain clear of the disease, also known as avian influenza or H5N1.

Cats are among the pets most susceptible to the virus. There have been 13 cases of cats dying from it—six feral and seven domesticated. However, Davis warned dog owners to exercise caution as well. Working animals living on a farm are at the highest risk, and their owners should try to keep their pets away from dairy cows or poultry.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is an infectious viral illness that spreads primarily among wild and domestic birds, but the virus that causes bird flu can sometimes be transferred to mammals, including dairy cows and, in some cases, humans.

A "multistate outbreak" of the virus has emerged among dairy cattle since mid-March, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and two cases have been confirmed in humans.

Davis added: "A lot of rural farmers keep guard dogs for poultry and other livestock." And she said, even though the dogs have likely been exposed to the flu for years since its emergence in 2021, there are no documented cases of dogs dying from the virus.

Davis urged pet owners to avoid feeding their pets raw milk, as consuming the milk from an infected cow can cause illness even if the person or their pet doesn't live on a farm.

"If you are someone who purchases raw milk for consumption at home, take great caution with pets and raw milk," Davis said. "It's not recommended that anyone in the household consume raw milk products."

Genetic traces of bird flu virus have been identified in 1 out of 5 samples of retail milk, but the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) isn't concerned when it comes to pasteurized products. Traces of the virus's DNA doesn't mean the milk contains active forms of the virus itself. The FDA conducted additional testing to determine if any infectious virus was present in the samples.

"This additional testing did not detect any live, infectious virus," the agency said in a statement on April 26. "These results reaffirm our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe."

Pets also can be exposed to avian influenza directly through an infected bird, specifically animals such as cats or dogs that hunt and then eat an infected bird, Davis warned.

Ferret owners also should take caution to keep their pets safe. "We recognize that ferrets are likely to be highly susceptible," she added.