A pet food recall over bird flu is linked to a cat’s death

A pet food company has issued a recall following the death of a cat in Oregon from the bird flu, according to state officials.

Oregon-based Northwest Naturals issued a voluntary recall on Dec. 24 of a batch of cat food after it tested positive for a H5N1 strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus.

The company recalled its 2-pound, Turkey Recipe raw and frozen cat food. The affected pet food was labeled with the “Best if used by” dates of 05/21/26 and 06/23/2026. It was sold nationwide including in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington, and British Columbia in Canada.

Northwest Naturals is urging customers who have purchased the recalled pet food to immediately discard it and contact the place of purchase for a refund.

At this time, only one death has been reported in connection with the recall.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) and the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ODVL) at Oregon State University have confirmed via testing that a house cat in Washington County in Oregon contracted H5N1 avian influenza and died after consuming the raw frozen pet food.

“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said ODA State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz, in a press release. “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 Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and local public health officials are currenlty monitoring individuals who had contact with the cat for any signs of flu symptoms.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), cats are particularly susceptible to bird flu.

While it is extremely rare for people to contract bird flu from infected animals including pets, it is possible — especially with prolonged and unprotected exposure. Previously, a cat infected a human with bird flu in 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The news comes as 65 human cases of bird flu have been confirmed this year, with California reporting the highest number at 36 cases.