Volume 17, Number 4—April 2011 Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Virus in 3
Wildlife Species, San Diego, California, USA To the Editor: The
influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus rapidly created a global
pandemic among humans and also appears to have strong
infectivity for a broad range of animal species (1–3). The virus
has been found repeatedly in swine and has been detected in a
dog, cats, turkeys, and domestic ferrets and in nondomestic
animals, including skunks, cheetahs, and giant anteaters (2–4).
In some cases, animal-to-animal transmission may have occurred,
raising concern about the development of new wildlife reservoirs
(2). In 2009, the first recognized occurrence of pandemic (H1N1)
2009 in southern California in April was followed by a surge of
cases during October through November (4). During this time,
respiratory illness developed in a 12-year-old male American
badger (Taxidea taxus taxus), a 19-year-old female Bornean
binturong (Arctictis binturong penicillatus), and a 7-year-old
black-footed ferret (Muste