New Jersey reports H5 avian flu cluster in cats

News brief

The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDH) today announced that H5 avian flu has been confirmed in a feral cat from Hunterdon County that had severe disease, including neurologic symptoms, and was humanely euthanized. The detection was confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

Other cats at the same property were sick, and a second H5 infection was found in an indoor-outdoor cat. Tests are pending on results from other cats, and an investigation is ongoing. Officials said the cats had no known exposure to infected poultry, livestock, raw milk, or raw meat, but roamed freely outdoors, where they may have had exposure to wild birds or other animals.

The NJDH and its local partners are monitoring people who were exposed to the cats, and all are currently without symptoms.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Kaitlan Baston, MD, said, "While the risk of H5 infection to the general population remains low at this time, it is important for people to learn more about the situation and take steps to avoid potential infection through exposure to animals, including feral cats."

Earlier this month, health officials in California's San Mateo County reported H5N1 in a stray cat that was taken in by a family.

Virus strikes more poultry farms in several states

In other H5N1 developments, APHIS over the past 2 days reported several more detections in poultry. They include multiple events at commercial duck and turkey farms in Indiana, as well as on a layer farm in Ohio and a commercial farm in Florida.

More outbreaks involving backyard flocks were reported in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Indiana, and Florida.

US flu season shows signs of peak

News brief

Lisa Schnirring

Flu activity in the United States has declined for the second week and a row, suggesting levels have peaked, though hospitalizations and other markers remain high and deaths in kids are nearing 100, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly update.

Test positivity at clinical labs is trending downward but is still high, at 24.5%. Outpatient visits for flulike illness also declined but, at 5.8%, are still well above the national baseline for the 13th straight week. States still in the very high range include Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

The cumulative hospitalization rate is at its highest level since the 2010-11 flu season.

The CDC estimates that 21,000 people have died from flu this season, and the pace of flu deaths in the latest reporting week outpaced those for COVID-19.

Twelve more pediatric flu deaths were reported, putting the season's total at 98. All were linked to influenza A. Of 11 subtyped strains, 8 were the 2009 H1N1 virus, 2 were H3N2, and 1 involved a coinfection with both strains.

COVID continues to drop amid shifting variant landscape

For COVID, emergency department (ED) visits are low with a continuing decline, and test positivity remains stable, at 4.3%, the CDC said. Wastewater levels are at the moderate range, and though detections are declining for all regions, they are highest in the Midwest, followed by the South.

In its latest variant tracking update, the CDC said that, over the past 2 weeks the LP.8.1 Omicron subvariant, at 42% of detections, has now edged above the XEC subvariant, which now makes up 31% of detections. LP.8.1 is a descendant of KP.1.1.3, which is part of the JN.1 lineage.