An Oregon home cat died after consuming pet meals that examined optimistic for chook flu, Oregon authorities mentioned, prompting a recall of uncooked frozen pet meals that was offered nationwide.
Northwest Naturals, a pet meals firm based mostly in Portland, Oregon, mentioned Tuesday it had voluntarily recalled one batch of its two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe uncooked frozen pet meals after it examined optimistic for the virus. The product was offered by way of distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, in addition to Canada’s British Columbia.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” Oregon Division of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz mentioned in a Tuesday information launch. “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 recalled product is packaged in two-pound plastic luggage with “best if used by” dates of Could 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026. The corporate and Oregon authorities mentioned that buyers who purchased the recalled product ought to throw it away instantly and call the place of buy for a refund.
No human circumstances of chook flu have been linked to the incident, however those that have been in touch with the cat are being monitored for flu signs, Oregon authorities mentioned.
Greater than 60 individuals in eight states have been contaminated, with principally gentle sicknesses, in response to the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, or CDC. One individual in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the nation’s first recognized extreme sickness brought on by the virus, well being officers mentioned final week.
To this point, the CDC has confirmed one human case of chook flu in Oregon. The individual was linked to a beforehand reported outbreak at a industrial poultry operation and totally recovered after experiencing gentle sickness, in response to a November information launch from the Oregon Well being Authority.
In late October, the U.S. Division of Agriculture introduced {that a} pig at a yard farm in Oregon was discovered to have chook flu, marking the primary detection of the virus in U.S. swine.
