A Portland-based pet food company issued a nationwide voluntary recall after a house cat in Oregon died after consuming one of its products, which tested positive for bird flu.
Northwest Naturals, owned by Morasch Meats, issued a recall on Tuesday for one batch of its 2-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, also known as H5N1 bird flu, according to a news release.
According to the release, the virus-infected batch was sold throughout the United States by distributors in Washington, Arizona, Rhode Island, Georgia, Maryland, and several other states. Products were also distributed in British Columbia, Canada.
The company is working with the Oregon Department of Agriculture on the voluntary recall, which was not mandated by the US Food and Drug Administration.
According to a news release from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the cat died after consuming raw frozen pet food that tested positive for H5N1.
The department reported that testing confirmed a genetic match between the infected animal and the virus found in the raw frozen pet food. The Washington State Department of Agriculture issued a Facebook statement announcing the voluntary recall in response to the test results.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said Ryan Scholz, a state veterinarian with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, in a statement.
“This cat was strictly an indoor cat,” Scholz explained. “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 recall affects products with “best if used by” dates ranging from May 21, 2026 to June 23, 2026, according to Northwest Naturals.
Northwest Naturals advises anyone who purchased the recalled product to discard it immediately and contact the store where they purchased it for a complete refund.
The Oregon Health Authority and local public health officials are keeping an eye out for bird flu symptoms among people who lived with the infected cat, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
The department stated that no human cases of bird flu have been linked to the incident.
Cats and dogs can contract bird flu by eating undercooked or raw meat, sick or dead infected birds, or drinking unpasteurized milk, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Humans can become infected if they are exposed to infected animals, but this is extremely rare, according to the association.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a person exposed to sick and dead birds in Louisiana was hospitalized last week with a severe case of H5N1, making it the first human case of severe illness linked to the virus in the United States.
The CDC defines mild symptoms in humans as mild fever, sore throat, headaches, fatigue, and muscle or body aches. High fever, difficulty breathing, and altered consciousness are among the more moderate to severe symptoms.
According to the CDC, 65 cases of bird flu have been reported in the US since April 2024.
