Post Reply - A new pandemic

When does it make sense to use an antiviral to treat H5N1 flu in a dog or cat?

Use of an antiviral makes sense for early treatment of known or high risk cases of H5N1 influenza where there’s a concern for development of serious disease (i.e. any infected cat, and probably infected dogs) AND when the animal can be properly treated AND when the animal can be kept isolated during and shortly after the treatment period.

Basically my two main questions are: do they need it? and am I confident the animal won’t be able to infect another individual (human or animal)? If I can comfortably say yes to both of those, I think it’s reasonable to use an antiviral.

Example 1: An infected cat in a household or veterinary clinic

• Yes. We can properly treat, isolate, monitor and test the cat appropriately.

Example 2: An infected cat that goes outside

• No, unless the cat can be kept inside during the treatment and monitoring period. I don’t want to risk an antiviral-resistant flu strain developing and then the cat spreading it to other cats, or worse, birds.

Example 3: A potentially infected backyard chicken

• No (or hell no). These are livestock, so they are approached differently (and in Canada poultry infected with H5 flu must be culled). Poultry are highly susceptible to H5N1 influenza, and can clearly infect people. Also, an antiviral is probably too little, too late for a species that is so susceptible.