Viral Mutation

Lebanon is not on the fore fronts of medicine, may it be veterinary or human , however... you could and I have found a very professional and talented Doctor for my cats. But as good as my Doctor is, as much as he's successfully treated my cats I fear that there is nothing he can do to help me or any of his patients with this situation.

I study at the American University of Beirut, feline population : approximately 300 and another university that's very close to mine - the Lebanese American University also has a feline population i'm told... so... with.. alot of cats in a confined area, new strands of viruses have emerged. Vaccinated, well fed, healthy , well sheltered cats have died from a new pandemic here. Apparently these students will play with cats in their university, come home.. and by simply allowing their cats to sniff them - they infect their kids with this new deadly strand of virus that has no vaccine and a low chance of survival - high chance of mortality.

My cats are successfully recovering from the flu, and they have been in quarantine for a while and will remain until this pandemic can be resolved. (if it can ever be resolved)

I know what I have to do to protect them (my cats) but it's hard and there's always a chance i'll unknowingly infect them...

I just wonder, is it like this in other places in the world? I mean... do you have to be so cautious and meticulous in cleaning your self and your house before interacting with your cats? Or is it like this for me because of this mutated virus going around campus. Mind you, It hasn't rained in Lebanon and 4/5 people you meet have the flu.

Oh my goodness. Does the new virus have a name? What are the symptoms of the virus? Do you know how long the incubation period is? Do you know what they are using to try and treat it? Do you know if is airborne or passed in saliva, please?

Originally Posted by Tru87

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Apparently these students will play with cats in their university, come home.. and by simply allowing their cats to sniff them - they infect their kids with this new deadly strand of virus that has no vaccine and a low chance of survival - high chance of mortality.

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Looks like it's transferred via infected saliva. If the students pet the strays, they're getting it from the fur (w/c as you know is often licked by cats)

Originally Posted by Tru87

I just wonder, is it like this in other places in the world? I mean... do you have to be so cautious and meticulous in cleaning your self and your house before interacting with your cats?

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I wouldn't go as far as cleaning the entire house. But I would wash my hands/take a bath and change clothing before interacting with your cats.

Originally Posted by Tru87

Mind you, It hasn't rained in Lebanon and 4/5 people you meet have the flu.

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Do you mean it's transferred from humans to cats and viceversa?

I just wonder, is it like this in other places in the world? I mean... do you have to be so cautious and meticulous in cleaning your self and your house before interacting with your cats? Or is it like this for me because of this mutated virus going around campus. Mind you, It hasn't rained in Lebanon and 4/5 people you meet have the flu.

Unfortunately, your story sounds very familiar. I am with my local Humane Society and I have never seen anything like what we got hit with early November. I do quite a bit of fostering...have fostered 90+ kittens in 6-months and NEVER lost one. Two-weeks into November, I lost 2 seperate litters of little ones & 1 adult...a tragic total of 7; the same week a seperate foster home lost 5 and a completely different shelter/organization than ourselves shut its doors to quarantine the ones that were not being euthanized for some strange "super virus" with no name.

Most, if not all of the cats & kittens were vaccinated and tested negative for Aids & FeLV. Go figure?!

Three different vets. were consulted and I have heard everything from Panluek. to FIP to Corona...but no definitive name was ever given to this "super virus" except that it was obviously deadly.

My personal opinion, is that it is some sort of mutated "super" virus possibly due to the over exposure of antibiotics, meds. in general & vaccines given to readily & too early.

To say I was scared to death is putting it mildly. I have 12 resident cats and my young 6-month old started showing symptoms. Jimmy is okay thank God!

In answer to your question regarding meticulous cleaning....Yes, yes & yes...proper cleaning when handling kittens/cat can be a life-saver. Bleach has become my best friend A lot of lessons came from that disaster back in November...top 3: 1-always listen to your gut-instinct (it is 99% correct) 2-listen to your vet (his word isn't God but it is darn close) and 3-clean, clean & clean some more.

I am curious, do they know what the zoonotic disease is? Normally, humans can't get diseases from cats and vice versa- except for things like ringworm, and other parasites. Is there anyone doing a study on this disease currently?

Thanks for the replies,

I probably wasn't as clear as I should of been when making that comment about humans having the flu.. what I meant was that my country right now is a perfect environment for viruses to flourish in as the temperature is exactly how they like it and it hasn't rained in a long time ; preventing nature from altering this perfect environment. So i'm sorry, but I didn't mean it was a zoonotic disease.

The Vet told me what he thought this "super virus" is.. a combination of two other viruses (or something) but I didn't quite catch its name.

He basically knows the University I go to has alot of cats (Infact, my two cats are adopted orphan kittens from there) and the way he described it. If I merely pass by or step on or brush up against a surface where an infected cat had just been - I would then become a source of infection for my cats because i'd be carrying the virus with me.(which is extremely likely since they all(cats) interact with us, sleep next to us, sit where we sit etc..)

I don't know the reason why this is occurring, The cats in my university still remain malnourished , rarely if ever medicated , and never vaccinated. The university is doing all it can, but this is the situation. So if these factors can play a part, I would only assume but i'm not sure.

And as far as more information about this virus, I didn't really catch it all... but I think... from what I got from him... once they get infected, it's really not long at all... diarrhea sets in , they can't eat anymore, sneezing and coughing and the way he put "they simply collapse, lie on their side and slowly begin to expire".

nothing to add, except I found this very fascinating and informative, its always interesting to here how other countries/cultures/traditions etc...interact with our fur-friends..........I feel sad that this terrible "bug" is taking so many and it must seem like a major uphill battle for the carers/vets/campus mangement etc to face.
Heres hoping the bugs soon runs its time and expires itself

Originally Posted by mooficat

nothing to add, except I found this very fascinating and informative, its always interesting to here how other countries/cultures/traditions etc...interact with our fur-friends..........I feel sad

that this terrible "bug" is taking so many and it must seem like a major uphill battle for the carers/vets/campus mangement etc to face.
Heres hoping the bugs soon runs its time and expires itself

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I always knew it's alot healthier and safer to wash my hands, make sure i'm clean before interacting with my cats... but this new piece of information is just very worrisome. My vet used to tell me, it's not a problem for cats to be exposed to everyday germs brought in from the outside.. infact... they become little tiny free vaccines that keep their immune system up-to-date and strong... but now he's telling me.. with this new "super virus" that is killing vaccinated, well nourished and sheltered cats ... I have to do everything in my power to prevent any contact from my university to my cats.

I'm not a Doctor yet ... infact.. that's about 7 years from happening.. but being a biology student now ... I might have a little more information about diseases than your average non-scientific university student.. and what's happening is... these students have no idea at all that they are (unknowingly) infecting their cats. Because as my Vet told me in the past, usually this its not a problem to bring germs from the outside into your home ... but when you have wild and incurable diseases, it becomes undoubtedly lethal... So I have no clue what can be done to raise awareness... I know my Vet is doing his part.. but he can't possibly contact all people in Beirut City... not to mention... my country is kind of about ready to implode lol... so people are kinda more concerned with surviving to see tomorrow than thinking about washing their hands before interacting with their cats.

What scares the daylights out of me is that EVERY city in the world is 24 hours away from a pandemic of any kind, be it human sickness or animal sickness.

I sure would like to know more about this. It almost sounds like a distemper-type infection, only more virulent.