Pet food recalled after cat death linked to bird flu contamination

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) alerted cat owners to throw out a brand of frozen food after it tested positive for bird flu. One house cat has already died due to the contamination.

“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said Ryan Scholz, ODA state veterinarian, 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,” the release states.  

Northwest Naturals recalled its 2-pound turkey recipe raw and frozen pet food on Tuesday. 

Its items are sold in 12 states across the country and Canada. No human cases of bird flu have been linked to this incident, according to the ODA, and the risk of transmission to humans remains low in Oregon.

Earlier this month, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced the first severe case of bird flu in a Louisiana resident. The patient was hospitalized after exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks.

California also declared a state of emergency over the spread of the virus last week. The Golden State has the highest level of known infections in the U.S.