BIRD FLU Experts: Keep cats indoors

Chicken should be cooked to a minimum of 165 degrees to kill pathogens.
NEW YORK (AP) -- People living in areas where bird flu has been found in poultry or wild birds should keep their cats indoors, say scientists who believe the potential role of felines in spreading the virus is being overlooked.
Cats have been known to become infected with the H5N1 virus, and lab experiments show they can give it to other cats, although nobody knows whether they can transmit it to people or poultry, the researchers say in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
Scientists know so little about H5N1 in cats that it's difficult to assess the risk they pose when infected, wrote virologist Albert Osterhaus and colleagues at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, along with Peter Roeder of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Still, "we believe that the potential role of cats should be considered in official guidelines for controlling the spread of H5N1 virus infection," they wrote.
In areas where H5N1 has been found in poultry or wild birds, cats should be kept away from infected birds or their droppings, and cats suspected of such contacts or showing symptoms of infection should be quarantined and tested, they wrote. Where possible, cats could be kept indoors to prevent contact, they wrote.
Cook to 165 degrees
Preparing for the arrival of bird flu, the government gave advice for making chicken safe to eat: Cook it to 165 degrees.
While the government has always offered "doneness" advice, it has never before declared what it takes to kill viruses and bacteria that may lurk in poultry.
"It's not in response directly to avian influenza, or bird flu, but so many people right now are concerned about bird flu and will poultry be safe to eat," said Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety.
The government says the deadly strain of bird flu spreading throughout Asia, Africa and Europe is likely to arrive this year in the United States.
Human cases of bird flu have been rare, but authorities worry the virus could mutate into a form that would spread easily among people and cause a global epidemic.
The cooking recommendation came from a scientific advisory panel that said raw poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.