United States: A pet food company which is in Portland, Oregon, is recalling one batch of its frozen cat food after a house cat in Oregon died from eating it. The food tested positive for bird flu (H5N1). The company, Northwest Naturals, is recalling the 2-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food as a safety measure.
Distributors in Washington, Arizona, Rhode Island, Georgia, Maryland, and several other states sold the virus batch across the United States, according to the release. British Columbia’s Canada also received the products.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture issued a voluntary recall, not prompted by the US Food and Drug Administration.
As reported by CNN, the Oregon Department of Agriculture said laboratory testing from the US Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University confirmed that the cat died after being fed raw frozen pet food that tested positive for H5N1 in Washington County, Oregon.
It turned out a genetic match between the infected animal and the virus elsewhere in the raw frozen pet food was confirmed, the department said. The Washington State Department of Agriculture posted about the recall in its statement on Facebook, saying the test results prompted it.
Ryan Scholz, a state veterinarian with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said in a release that ‘We are confident this cat got H5N1 after eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food.’
“Whoever this cat was, he was a fully indoor cat,” Scholz said. “The virus was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing from raw pet food and the infecting cat virus were exact matches.”
Northwest Naturals also recalled products that bear ‘best if used by’ dates ranging from May 21, 2026 through June 23, 2026.
People who bought the recalled product are told to throw it away and they should call the store where they bought it for a full refund.
Local public health officials and the Oregon Health Authority are monitoring people who lived with the cat that tested positive for bird flu symptoms, said the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
