A voluntary recall of uncooked and frozen cat meals has been issued in Oregon after a cat that died of bird flu was linked to the product, state officers have stated.
Northwest Naturals has instructed clients of its Feline Turkey Recipe uncooked frozen pet meals to throw out the product if its sell-by date falls between 21 May 2026 and 23 June 2026.
The firm stated on its website the batch of cat meals, which was bought throughout the US, examined optimistic for extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), extra generally often called chook flu.
“Consumption of uncooked or raw pet meals contaminated with HPAI may cause sickness in animals. To date, one case of sickness in a home cat has been reported in reference to this subject,” the corporate stated.
The Oregon agriculture division issued a notice saying that exams confirmed a genetic match between the virus within the uncooked and frozen pet meals and the contaminated cat.
“We are assured that this cat contracted H5N1 by consuming the Northwest Naturals uncooked and frozen pet meals,” stated Dr Ryan Scholz, an ODA state veterinarian.
“This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not uncovered to the virus in its surroundings, and outcomes from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the uncooked pet meals and contaminated cat had been actual matches to one another,” Scholtz added.
Oregon well being officers stated that, so far, no human instances of HPAI have been linked to this incident, and the danger of HPAI transmission to people stays low within the state.
But the company additionally suggested towards folks and their pets to keep away from consuming uncooked or undercooked meat merchandise, uncooked dairy merchandise, restrict contact with sick or useless animals, and to maintain pets or poultry away from wild waterfowl.
Dozens of individuals have been contaminated with the H5N1 virus throughout the US, with the primary “extreme case” reported in Louisiana 10 days in the past. California has declared a state of emergency because the unfold amongst livestock has begun to have an effect on the US meals provide.
On Tuesday, 20 unique cats, together with a Bengal tiger, 4 cougars, a lynx and 4 bobcats, were reported to have died after contracting chook flu at an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington.
Last week, health officials in Los Angeles said they had been investigating three family cats presumed to have bird flu, as officers confirmed the illness in two different cats who died after ingesting uncooked milk linked to Raw Farm, a dairy in Fresno, California, that was topic to a recall of uncooked milk and cream merchandise final month.
The H5N1 an infection in cats is alarming to virus specialists; a recent study found that cat cells permit viruses to combine and mutate, probably offering a bridge that permits the H5N1 chook flu to mutate and soar to people.
A examine, revealed within the tutorial journal Emerging Microbes & Infections, discovered that cats, like pigs, had mobile receptors which permit them to behave as “mixing vessels for reassortment of avian and mammalian influenza viruses”.
Furthermore, cats which had just lately died of H5N1 chook flu had been discovered to have “distinctive mutations” suggestive of “potential virus adaptation”.
“The continued publicity, viral circulation, and adaptation of the H5N1 virus in cats elevate important issues for transmission and public well being,” the authors of the University of Pittsburgh report stated.
Cats, they added, incessantly work together with people and different species and will due to this fact “function a bridge for cross-species transmission of H5N1 viruses”.
In April, Maryland’s college of public well being warned {that a} assessment of scientific literature suggests home cats can get chook flu and transmit it to people, and ought to be monitored.
“As companion animals, home cats present a possible pathway for avian influenza viruses to spill over into people,” stated Kristen Coleman, an assistant professor on the college.
