A cat was sent to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Hong Kong Wednesday. It is the only cat surrendered to the society since reports surfaced of H5N1 virus infecting cats in Germany and Austria, SPCA spokeswoman Rebecca Ngan said Thursday.

According to Ngan, the cat brought home a dead bird from the garden one day and the owner was pretty scared about that so she surrendered the cat. The cat is in a good healthy condition now, Ngan said.

Hong Kong scientists urged checks on dead and sick cats so as to prevent the transmission of H5N1 virus to humans Wednesday, while the Hong Kong government proposed to tighten the demerit points system on licensed food among the rising threat of a bird flu outbreak.

Several cats in Austria and Germany were found with the dangerous H5N1 virus later, and Dutch scientists have evidence that cats can spread the virus to one another in the laboratory. Meanwhile, Thai scientists have found that dogs and cats there also could be carrying the virus.

University of Hong Kong chair professor of microbiology Yuen Kwok-yung warned Wednesday the cat cases showed that these mammals are vulnerable. He said cats that strayed in villages in the New Territories of Hong Kong had a higher chance of contact with bird carcasses which increased their risk of bird flu.

"Dead or sick cats, which are wandering around in villages outside people's homes, should be collected for testing," he said.

The Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said Wednesday night that up till now, there is no evidence that cats could transmit H5N1 to humans. "A recent report from World Health Organization indicates that the confirmation of H5N1 infection in cats is not considered likely to enhance the present risk to human health," a spokesman said. But he advised cat owners not to allow their pets to eat wild birds.

Paul Chan, a professor of microbiology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said people should not ignore the occurrence of the virus in felines.

"The infection of cats is not a brand new finding, but there is some data to suggest that birds can be infected without symptoms.So if these cats are infected without symptoms, and if they can spread the virus, this can lead to a very different situation," Chan said.

"We are not sure if (the virus) can spread between cats, but we better assume it can," he added.

With the rising threat of a bird flu outbreak, the Hong Kong government is proposing to tighten the current demerit points system on licensed food premises in order to increase its deterrent effect on operators.

The Health, Welfare and Food Bureau put in a proposal to the Legislative Council's food safety and environmental hygiene panel Wednesday. According to the proposal, Premises selling food unfit for human consumption, Chinese dishes of raw fish, or food obtained from unproved manufacturing sources will receive 15 demerit points and have their licenses suspended for three weeks, compared with just seven days under the current system.

Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow said on Wednesday the testing of park birds has been an integral part of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department's avian influenza surveillance and monitoring program.

Chow told lawmakers that about 200 fecal samples from recreational parks are submitted to the department for testing every month.

Source: Xinhua