BANGKOK, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Test results proved that several cats in Bangkok had died of the H5N1 virus that caused the avian influenza, a Thai veterinarian said at a press conference held here on Friday morning.

    Five cats were sent to the Kasetsart University's animal hospital with flu symptoms earlier this month and four of them that died later were tested positive for H5N1 virus, said Thaneerat Sntivatra, director of the hospital and dean of the university's Faculty of Veterinary Science.

    The university's lab had tested sections of lung and spleen tissues from the dead animals and found out virus in it, Thaneerat told reporters.

    The scientists then compared the virus with that of the H5N1 virus and concluded they were the same type.

    The lab then cultivated the virus and injected it to a newly-hatched chicken, which died soon, he explained the whole process.

    This was the first case that H5N1 virus had been detected on a cat, said Thaneerat, calling the discovery a "milestone" one.

    Meanwhile, the World Health Organization and the Thai government were urging people not to panic over the news and providing feasible suggestion to stay away from the disease.

    WHO official Somchai Thirapakorn based in Bangkok earlier said the disease wouldn't necessarily be transmitted between mammals and human even the virus had been detected on cat.

    So far, the virus detected on cat remained exactly the same as those found out on chicken, the Public Health Ministry's Disease Control Department director, Charal Trivuthipong, told reporters.

    Scientists were most concerned about the mutation of the virus,which would make the disease more lethal and hard to cure.

    The Thai Public Health Ministry also advised people raising catto avoid cats' slobber, nasal mucus and excreta and wash their hands after touching cats.

    The five cats sent to the animal hospital were from the same family living at Bangkok's suburb.

    According to the state-run Thai News Agency, one of the family's 10 cats had eaten a dead chicken at a nearby chicken farm affected by bird flu and disappeared later.

    The other nine cats then all showed flu symptoms and four died without going hospital. There's still one cat receiving treatment in hospital.

    On Monday, the Thai government confirmed that a cloud leopard in a zoo had died of the virus causing bird flu. This was the first case that mammal had been infected with the disease.

    The government also said a white tiger in the zoo affected earlier by the disease had recovered. Enditem

WHO experts: no need to panic over cat suspected of dying bird flu

    BANGKOK, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- There's no need to panic over a suspected case of cat catching the H5N1 virus causing avian influenza, the World Health Organization experts said here on Friday morning.

    Further investigation had yet to be carried out to prove the reason of the cat's death and find out how it had been infected with the virus, WHO official Somchai Thirapakorn was quoted by Thailand's National Radio as saying.

    Thailand's Kasetsart University on Friday declared that their lab test showed that a cat in Bangkok had died for contracting thehighly-contagious H5N1 virus that caused the prevalent bird flu epidemic.

    More details of the test would be presented at a press conference held by the university on Friday.

    Saying that the WHO had noticed the latest development, Somchaiinsisted that it's still too early to draw conclusion.

    It's not clear how the cat had contracted the disease and whether it's affected by the same strain of virus that caused the avian influenza, said the WHO expert.

    Even the virus did jump from bird to the cat, it had yet to prove whether the virus would be transmitted between mammal and human, he noted.

    For the above reasons, Somchai urged the public to keep calm and said there was no need to panic.

    On Monday, the Thai government confirmed that a cloud leopard in a zoo had died of the virus causing bird flu. This was the first case that mammal had been infected with the disease.

    The government also said a white tiger in the zoo affected earlier by the disease had recovered.

    Officials from Thailand's Public Health Ministry also reportedly downplayed the report of the cat case, saying that theyhad yet to see confirmation. Enditem