𝐁𝐨𝐛𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐮

𝐁𝐨𝐛𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐮 Here’s a clear summary of the study—“𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝘃𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗮 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲-𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝗯𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘀 (𝗟𝘆𝗻𝘅 𝗿𝘂𝗳𝘂𝘀) 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗨𝗦𝗔” (Journal of Wildlife Diseases 61(2):515-521, 2025): 📌 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 The study investigated whether wild bobcats in New York have been exposed to or infected with 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐬 (𝐇𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐕) 𝐇𝟓𝐍𝟏 — a strain of bird flu that has been spreading in wild birds and has increasingly spilled over into mammals. 🧪𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐝 •They 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝟏𝟔 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐛𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 (Lynx rufus) in New York State. •Collected blood samples to test for 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝟓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝟏 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬 — markers indicating prior exposure to HPAI strains. 🔍 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 •A 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of the captured bobcats had antibodies indicating they had been exposed to HPAI viruses, including 𝐇𝟓𝐍𝟏. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 •The paper reported 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝟓𝐍𝟏 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐛𝐜𝐚𝐭. •One bobcat that initially tested negative later 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝟓𝐍𝟏 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, meaning the virus can cause fatal disease in this species. •Other bobcats that showed evidence of exposure 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐝, suggesting variability in how infection affects individuals. 🐾 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 •These results 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 that the H5N1 bird flu virus is not just a bird disease; it 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬 in the wild, likely via consumption of infected prey or carcasses. •Because bobcats are widespread and interact with diverse prey species, this highlights a 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, spillover, and possibly in how HPAI persists or moves across species. 📌 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 This is one of the 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 showing that HPAI H5N1 has not only exposed but 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 with measurable outcomes — including at least one fatal infection. Such work helps scientists 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝟓𝐍𝟏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 beyond birds. #BigCatRescue #Bobcat #Conservation #Research #SavingSmallWildCats #SaveThePlanet