Pet food recalled over bird flu contamination, house cat dead

Released on December 27, 2024, at 6:04 AM CST.

In this image from March 1, 2007, a cat strolls through a market filled with chickens in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia. (Photo credit: Dimas Ardian / Getty Images)

The passing of a house cat in Oregon, which fell ill after consuming raw pet food tainted with bird flu, has led to a nationwide recall of that product.

On Thursday, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) announced that tests conducted on samples of Northwest Naturals’ 2lb turkey recipe raw and frozen pet food revealed the presence of the H5N1 strain of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus.

According to a statement from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, tests conducted by several USDA laboratories in Oregon have confirmed that a house cat in Washington County contracted the H5N1 virus and passed away after consuming raw frozen pet food.

Bird flu in California is still posing a risk to birds and cattle. So far, 34 individuals in the state have been confirmed as positive for the virus, but health officials emphasize that the overall threat to the public is minimal. Christina Evans from LiveNOW discusses the current situation with Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an expert in infectious diseases.

UNUSUAL HUMAN CASE OF EXTREMELY TRANSMISSIBLE BIRD FLU REPORTED IN TEXAS

According to the ODA, tests showed that the virus found in the raw and frozen pet food was genetically identical to the one in the infected cat.

"We believe that this cat got H5N1 from consuming Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food," stated Ryan Scholz, the state veterinarian for the ODA. "Since this cat lived entirely indoors and was not exposed to the virus outside, the genome sequencing results showed that the virus found in both the raw pet food and the infected cat were identical."

Officials from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and local public health departments are keeping an eye on people living with the cat for any signs of flu-like symptoms.

Northwest Naturals, a company located in Portland, Oregon, has announced a voluntary recall of their food product. The affected items come in 2-pound plastic bags and have "Best if used by" dates of May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026.

According to the ODA, the product was distributed across the country in states like Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington, as well as in British Columbia, Canada. If you bought the recalled item, you should throw it away right away and get in touch with the store where you bought it to receive a full refund.

While Oregon has indicated one confirmed instance of avian influenza in a human, officials have clarified that this case has not been associated with any other incidents.

Nearby states like Idaho, Nevada, and California have reported instances of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in their dairy cattle populations. This has added to more than 700 confirmed cases across 16 states in the country, as stated by the ODA.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a state of emergency in response to the H5N1 virus, commonly referred to as avian influenza or bird flu. This action comes after the virus was detected among dairy cows on farms in Southern California, as detailed in a press release from the governor's office. Initially identified in Texas and Kansas back in March, bird flu has now been confirmed in cattle across 16 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). LiveNOW's Austin Westfall discussed the situation surrounding the avian flu with FOX 7 Austin reporter Tan Radford and Dr. Peter Chin-Hong from the University of California, San Francisco Health System.

As a safety step, the department declared earlier this month that it will conduct tests on milk from all commercial dairies throughout the state.

Federal authorities require testing of the milk supply for bird flu.

To prevent the transmission of illness, specialists highly recommend that individuals and their pets:

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