Cat washingIn what would be an interesting but not completely surprising twist, there’s a report of H3N2 influenza infection in a cat from a New York city shelter. The report’s pretty limited in detail, and it’s not clear to me how solid the diagnosis is, but it would be interesting if true. It probably doesn’t represent a major concern or change in the virus. Rather, it’s likely reflective of an uncommon spillover into a different species.  Spillover hosts typically aren’t able to effectively pass the virus on, so it would be a rare event and not an indication the virus has changed or is going to spread among the cat population.

But, as ever with flu, time will tell.