a case of an indoor 13yearold house cat in iowa who has contracted the deadly h1n1 flu while living with two flusick owners has fuelled concerns if the illness can spread from humans to animalsthe iowa department of public health confirmed the latest h1n1 animal case renewing interest on the topic of humans as the primary carriers of the illnesswere seeing reverse zoonosis with the virus jumping from people to animals discovery news quoted alfonso torres as sayingbut the former chief veterinary officer of the united states who is now associate dean for public policy at cornell universitys college of veterinary medicine added in theory cats could infect humans but there is no evidence for that yetthough the reason behind why ferrets and cats may be more at risk to h1n1 flu is yet to be determined torres explained that viruses need receptors to allow infection of an individualtorres said the human h1n1 vaccine may or may not work in cats there are some 60 million cats and only the one reported case so the risk of other cats becoming infected appears to be low at this pointmichael san filippo a spokesperson for the american veterinary medical association further said the cat h1n1 case provides a good reminder that viruses can pass from humans to animals