Pet food recall after cat dies from bird flu in Oregon

Pet food recall issued after Oregon house cat dies from eating product that tested positive for bird flu

Updated: 8:55 PM EST Dec 26, 2024

A Portland-based pet food company issued a nationwide voluntary recall after a house cat in Oregon died from eating one of its products, which tested positive for bird flu.Northwest Naturals, owned by Morasch Meats, announced the recall Tuesday for one batch of its 2-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after the product tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, also known as H5N1 bird flu, according to a news release.The batch with the virus was sold across the United States through distributors in Washington, Arizona, Rhode Island, Georgia, Maryland and several other states, according to the release. The products were also distributed in Canada’s British Columbia.The company is cooperating with the Oregon Department of Agriculture on the voluntary recall, which the we Food and Drug Administration did not issue.Laboratory testing from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University confirmed the cat died after consuming raw frozen pet food that tested positive for H5N1 in Washington County, Oregon, according to a news release from the Oregon Department of Agriculture.Testing confirmed a genetic match between the infected animal and the virus found in the raw frozen pet food, the department said. The test results prompted the voluntary recall, the Washington State Department of Agriculture announced in a statement on Facebook.“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” Ryan Scholz, a state veterinarian with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said in a release.“This cat was strictly an indoor cat,” Scholz said. “It was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other.”The recall applies to products with “best if used by” dates between May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026, according to Northwest Naturals.Northwest Naturals advises people who purchased the recalled product to throw it away immediately and contact the store where they bought it for a full refund.The Oregon Health Authority and local public health officials are monitoring people who lived with the infected cat for bird flu symptoms, the Oregon Department of Agriculture said.No human cases of the bird flu have yet been linked to the incident, the department added.Cats and dogs can catch bird flu from eating undercooked or raw meat, sick or dead infected birds or drinking unpasteurized milk, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.Humans can become infected if exposed to infected animals, but this is rare, the association said.Last week, a person exposed to sick and dead birds in Louisiana became hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1, marking the first human case of severe illness linked to the virus in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Mild symptoms in humans include mild fever, sore throat, headaches, fatigue and muscle or body aches, according to the CDC. More moderate to severe symptoms include high fever, difficulty breathing or altered consciousness.Sixty-five bird flu cases have been reported in the U.S. since April 2024, the CDC said.