C.D.C. Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People
The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.
By Apoorva Mandavilli and Emily Anthes
Feb. 6, 2025
Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. The data appear to have been mistakenly posted but includes crucial information about the risks of bird flu to people and pets.
In one household, an infected cat might have spread the virus to another cat and to a human adolescent, according to a copy of the data table obtained by The New York Times. The cat died four days after symptoms began. In a second household, an infected dairy farmworker appears to have been the first to show symptoms, and a cat then became ill two days later and died on the third day.
The table was the lone mention of bird flu in a scientific report published on Wednesday that was otherwise devoted to air quality and the Los Angeles County wildfires. The table was not present in an embargoed copy of the paper shared with news media on Tuesday, and is not included in the versions currently available online. The table appeared briefly at around 1 p.m., when the paper was first posted, but it is unclear how or why the error might have occurred.
The virus, called H5N1, is primarily adapted to birds, but it has been circulating in dairy cattle since early last year. H5N1 has also infected at least 67 Americans but does not yet have the ability to spread readily among people. Only one American, in Louisiana, has died of an H5N1 infection so far.
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It's like 'dead birds flying': How bird flu is spreading in the wild
A little over a year ago, Marcela Uhart was walking on the beach in Punta Delgada, Argentina. It was peak breeding session on this peninsula known for its rich marine wildlife. Usually, the salty breeze brought with it the sounds of baby elephant seals calling to their moms in high pitched yells.
"This time it was silent," recalls Uhart. "The beaches were just loaded with carcasses. We saw basically every [elephant seal] pup dead. We estimate about 18,000 dead baby elephant seals."
Dead from bird flu.
And it wasn't just elephant seals. There were terns – with their yellow beaks and black heads – stumbling about having seizures on the sand. The scene played out again and again in the weeks that followed, up and down the coastline. "It was like birds falling out of the sky, dead," she says.
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