Can Pets Get Swine Flu?
There are three types of influenza virus in existence which include influenza A, B and C.
All birds and mammals alike can be infected by a specific type of flu virus. Humans on the other hand can be infected by forms of all three. It is influenza type A which causes grave and serious health concerns among humans and animals among these three types of flu virus.
The virus can mutate in a rapid pace. Humans do not have immunity to the type A influenza virus.
Viruses can mutate as fast as they can. Humans do not have the immunity against this type of flu virus.
This would mean that the body cannot initially protect against the new mutations of this flu virus. Antibodies cannot be produced by the body and there is no immunity towards any type of mutated influenza virus. Most of the time, the new strains of flu virus can result from the spread of an existing flu virus from one typical specie to another.
In this way, the virus is allowed to transfer or transmit necessary tools between each member of two different species to the usual host. Pet owners do often wonder if this type of flu virus can affect their animals at home. It has been a major concern among pet lovers since there has been a considerable increase in the number of deaths resulting from the exposure and harboring of this swine flu.
Swine flu is a typical influenza A virus.
It is alternatively called as A(H1N1) which affects pigs in general. This type of flu among pigs has low mortality rates and the strain has been causing increasing death tolls is not the same virus. What this swine flu has is the mixture of genes from pig, human and bird flu and is similar to the strain which caused the 1918 pandemic “Spanish flu”.
This new strain of flu is totally different from the virus which caused much commotion last year. One of the most considerable differences between swine flu and bird flu is the fact that bird flu can be transmitted to humans by direct contact with infected birds and no possible human to human host transmission where as Swine flu or AH1N1 can be transmitted from human to human.
Swine flu can be transmitted through human to human mode. It is not transmitted from the mere contact with pigs. None of the infection recorded in Mexico and North America have had close contact with pigs. In addition to that, there were no pigs in North America territory which have been found to be harboring this type of flu.
Dogs and cats do develop flu after exposure to owners with a seasonal flu virus. Though it is theoretically possible for a new influenza strain to be transmitted between humans and other domestic animals, it is with the least possibility that this specific strain will be transmitted from humans to other house pets.
According to the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA), “there is no evidence that pets are susceptible to this new strain of influenza; it appears to be transmitted solely from person to person”.
Can pets get swine flu? The answer is a big No.
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