A veterinarian has been infected with a strain of bird flu known as H7N2 that spread among more than 100 cats housed at New York City animal shelters, NBC News reported.
New York City health officials said Thursday the vet has recovered from a mild illness, and there's no sign that the flu has spread to shelter workers or those who've adopted cats.
"More than 160 Animal Care Centers of NYC employees and volunteers, including several people who had similar exposure to sick cats, were screened by the Health Department and not found to have infection with the H7N2 virus," the department said.
Vets, doctors and other scientists keep an eye on bird flu because it can and does spread to people and has the potential to cause epidemics. So far, H7N2 hasn't. It has only ever infected a few people.
