Bird flu found in house cats, mice in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma

ROOSEVELT COUNTY, N.M. (KAMR/KCIT) – The US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reported that house mice and domestic cats in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas have tested positive for H5N1, also known as avian influenza or “bird flu.”

The APHIS reported on Tuesday that it had confirmed a total of 47 cases of H5N1 in house mice in Roosevelt County, N.M. There had also been one confirmed case in a red fox from the county, with the World Organization for Animal Health noting that the animals were located at a farm where bird flu had been detected in poultry. At least five cases were also confirmed in domestic cats in Curry County.

The APHIS also reported previously that it detected cases of a strain of bird flu with wild bird lineage in multiple counties of Texas, including a striped skunk in Carson County and domestic cats in Hale and Hartley counties.

Oklahoma also reported its first case of bird flu in a mammal via a domestic cat in Harmon County. Other states including Michigan, Idaho and Colorado also recently confirmed cases in domestic cats.

These developments come amid months of diagnostic tracking for cases of bird flu across the US, brought under national attention after multiple poultry facilities – including one in Farwell, Texas – detected cases in animals on site. Poultry and dairy facilities around the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico, as well as elsewhere in the country, have since continued to see cases in poultry and cattle as well as industry workers.

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