Dec 25, 2024 - Business

Pet food recall over bird flu concerns, after cat dies

Rebecca Falconer

A feral cat sits in one of the gardens of the National Presidential Palace, in Mexico City, Mexico on April 12, 2024. — Testing conducted by health officials confirmed a house cat in Washington County, Ore., "contracted H5N1 and died after consuming the raw frozen pet food," health officials said. Photo: Daniel Cardenas/Anadolu via Getty Images

A pet food company in Oregon has issued a voluntary recall of its raw and frozen products, as state officials investigate the bird flu death of a cat that they linked to its food.

The big picture: Northwest Naturals' recall of its 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe brand also prompted Los Angeles County health officials to warn pet owners not to feed their animals raw food.

Driving the news: Testing conducted by health officials confirmed a house cat in Washington County, Ore., "contracted H5N1 and died after consuming the raw frozen pet food," per a statement the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) issued on Tuesday.

"Tests confirmed a genetic match between the virus in the raw and frozen pet food and the infected cat," the statement added.

Details: The recalled product is packaged in 2-pound plastic bags with "Best if used by" dates of May 21, 2026 and June 23, 2026, per a statement from Northwest Naturals.

The product was sold through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Public health officials are monitoring household members who had contact with the dead cat, but the ODA said no human cases of HPAI had so far been linked to this incident.

What they're saying: "We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food," said ODA State Veterinarian Ryan Scholz in a statement.

"This cat was strictly an indoor cat; 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."

Zoom out: The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in its advisory that it recently confirmed H5 bird flu in four house cats that consumed recalled raw milk and became sick and died in incidents currently under investigation.

"Public Health is also investigating additional possible cases of H5 bird flu in three house cats from a different household," the department said.
"Public Health is awaiting confirmatory testing. These cats were not known to be exposed to raw milk, however public health is investigating other possible sources of infection, including raw meat."

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Pet food recall over bird flu concerns, after cat dies

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