Northwest Naturals, a Portland-based pet food company, has issued a North American recall following the death of a cat in Oregon that consumed a batch of their cat food contaminated with the H5N1 bird flu virus.
On December 24, the company announced the recall of its 2-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after the death of a house cat. Testing revealed that the food contained the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus.
The company stated, “Consumption of raw or uncooked pet food contaminated with HPAI can cause illness in animals.” As of now, only one case of illness in a domestic cat has been reported related to this incident.
Customers who purchased the affected product, with “best by” dates between May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026, are urged to dispose of it immediately and contact their point of purchase for a full refund.
The affected product was distributed across several states in the U.S., including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington, as well as in British Columbia, Canada.
The recall is being conducted in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), which also issued a statement. According to the ODA’s press release, laboratory testing by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University confirmed that the cat contracted H5N1 and died after eating the contaminated food. These tests confirmed a genetic match between the virus in the pet food and the one found in the cat.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said Dr. Ryan Scholz, State Veterinarian for the ODA. He added, “This cat was strictly an indoor cat, and the results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus in the pet food and the virus that infected the cat were exact matches.”
The Oregon Department of Agriculture noted that public health officials are monitoring household members who had close contact with the infected cat for flu symptoms. However, the ODA emphasized that no human cases have been linked to this incident, and the risk of human transmission in Oregon remains low.
To prevent the spread of HPAI, experts recommend avoiding raw or undercooked meat, limiting contact with sick or dead animals, and washing hands after handling raw animal products or interacting with sick or dead animals. Sick or dead birds should be reported to the ODA, and pets should be kept away from wild waterfowl.
This case highlights the risks associated with feeding pets raw meat products, which can harbor harmful pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, and H5N1. Cooking thoroughly eliminates these pathogens, and pasteurization eliminates the risks from raw, unpasteurized milk.
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