Oregon domestic cat died after eating pet food that tested positive for bird flu

Updated: 52 a few minutes ago Published: 12 hours ago

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon domestic cat died after eating pet food that tested positive for bird flu, Oregon authorities said, prompting a recall of frozen raw food for pets sold nationwide.

Northwest Naturals, a Portland, Oregon-based pet food company, said Tuesday that it voluntarily recalled a two-pound batch of its Feline Turkey Recipe frozen raw food after testing positive for the virus. The product was sold through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as British Columbia in Canada.

“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 from eating Northwest Naturals raw, frozen pet food,” Oregon Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan said Tuesday. Scholz, in a press release. “This cat was strictly an indoor cat; he was not exposed to the virus in his environment, and genome sequencing results confirmed that the viruses recovered from the raw pet food and the infected cat were an exact match to each other.

The recalled product is packaged in two-pound plastic bags with expiration dates of May 21, 2026 and June 23, 2026. The company and Oregon authorities said consumers who purchased the recalled product should throw it away immediately and contact the place of purchase for a refund.

No human cases of bird flu have been linked to the incident, but those who had contact with the cat are being monitored for flu symptoms, Oregon authorities said.

More than 60 people in eight states have been infected, with mostly mild illnesses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. In Louisiana, one person was hospitalized with the nation’s first known serious illness caused by the virus, health officials announced last week.

So far, the CDC has confirmed one human case of bird flu in Oregon. The person was linked to a previously reported outbreak at a commercial poultry operation and made a full recovery after suffering a mild illness, according to a November news release from the Oregon Health Authority.

In late October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that a pig from a farm in Oregon had avian influenza, marking the first time the virus had been detected in a U.S. pig.