Indonesian scientists detected H5N1 in stray cats near poultry markets in some parts of the country. They worry that if the virus adapts to mammals it could more easily spread among people.
A survey by Chairul Anwar Nidom, a scientist at Airlangga University in Surabaya, found H5N1 antibodies in 20 percent of 500 stray cats near poultry markets in four areas in Java, including Jakarta, and one area in Sumatra where there had been recent human H5N1 cases or outbreaks of the disease in poultry.
The survey said the findings suggested the cats had probably been infected because they ate infected poultry.