San Francisco public health officials said it was first notified of the bird flu in the cat on July 17, after it showed "respiratory and neurologic symptoms." A local vet tested the cat for influenza A, which came back positive. The California Department of Public Health confirmed the infection on July 31. SFDPH said there are no additional suspected or confirmed cases in San Francisco, no evidence of person-to-person transmission and the health risk to the general public remains low.
On advice given previously to the House of Commons, the decision was made not to bring a cat on the estate on the following grounds. The estate had too much construction activity on site to provide a safe living environment for a free-roaming cat.
