Perhaps not too surprisingly, more cats have been diagnosed with H1N1. Following the first reported case in Iowa, two more cases have been reported: one in Utah and one in Oregon. The Utah case apparently had typical flu-like disease. The cat from Oregon died of severe respiratory disease.

This doesn’t really change anything. We know cats are susceptible, although not highly so considering the small number of cases despite large numbers of cats being exposed by their owners. H1N1 in cats is a human-associated disease, with cats getting infected from infected people. We still have no evidence that pets are a source of human infection. Even so, good general hygiene practices should be used around infected pets and people to reduce the risk of transmission in both directions.

Image source: http://animalphotos.info/a/