The Wild Felid Advocacy Center in Shelton was home to 37 big cats - including tigers, cougars and leopards - before the outbreak began in late November, said Mark Mathews, who co-founded the sanctuary in 2004. Twenty died from the disease - an even mix of elderly cats with previous medical issues and younger, healthier cats.

Bird flu has been on the rise in Washington state and one sanctuary was hit hard: 20 big cats – more than half of the facility’s population – died over the course of weeks.

An animal sanctuary in Washington is under quarantine after 20 big cats died amid a bird flu outbreak, the Wild Felid Advocacy Center announced.

The sanctuary in Washington state said it was working with officials to determine the cause of the outbreak, which has killed over half of its cats in recent weeks.

Nearly two dozen big cats died after bird flu swept through the sanctuary where they lived. The Wild Felid Advocacy Center near Shelton, Washington said the first animals died last month but the cause was just recently confirmed, KIRO reported. In all 20 cats died, more than half of the sanctuary’s big cats.

Twenty big cats, including a half-Bengal tiger and four cougars, died between late November and mid-December at a sanctuary in Washington State after becoming infected with bird flu, according to the facility’s director.

In a matter of days, dozens of large cats have died of bird flu in several states from Arizona to Washington. Police in Houston said several kids trying to rob a man were subsequently shot, with one now in critical condition.

The killer virus swept its way through a Washington non-profit conservation centre, forcing the charity to close its doors and undergo a strict quarantine in the hope the bird flu would not take any m