Besides closely contact with
domestic poultry, the special climatic and lifestyle
environment in southern China provides more chances
for cats to contact with other animals, such as wild aquatic
birds, dogs, and humans. Thereby, it creates opportunities
for interspecies transmission of the virus to cats. Meanwhile,
As humans exposed to LPMs and
poultry farms seems to be at increased risk of H5N1 and
other AIVs infection, and dogs in China have been shown to
be infected with AIVs, we sought to investigate if stray cats
living in close-proximity to LPMs and H5N1-affected farms
might have been infected with the H5N1 virus or other
influenza viruses.