A brand of natural cat food sold in California is being pulled from store shelves after reports that a cat in Oregon who ate the pet food contracted bird flu and died.
Oregon-based Northwest Naturals of Portland is recalling a batch of its Northwest Naturals brand two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza virus, company officials announced.
The product is packaged in 2-lb. plastic bags with “Best if used by” dates of 05/21/26 B10 and 06/23/2026 B1. An image provided by the company showed the recalled blue-and-gold bags were labeled with “Protein Boost” and was also marketed as food for dogs.
The Portland-based manufacturer sold the product through distributors in California and 11 other states including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington; as well as British Columbia, Canada.
People who bought the product are being told to immediately throw it away and ask for a refund at the place of purchase.
Oregon Department of Agriculture officials confirmed a house cat in the state’s Washington County, east of Portland, died from the virus it contracted after eating the raw frozen pet food.
Genetics tests confirmed a match between the chow and the infected cat, said Oregon state officials. Northwest Naturals is conducting the recall in coordination with Oregon state agriculture officials.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said Oregon Department of Agriculture State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz, in a statement announcing the recall.
“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,” Scholz said.
Customers can contact Northwest Naturals of Portland at infonw-naturals.net or toll-free at 866-637-1872 from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Northwest Naturals products have suffered at least one recall before due to contamination.
In February 2018, Northwest Naturals recalled 5-pound frozen Chicken and Salmon chubs after Michigan public health authorities found listeria when testing a chub that tested negative for E. coli and salmonella.
In response to the bird flu outbreak, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Dec. 18 to bolster the state’s response. The state’s Department of Public Health is working with local, state and federal agencies to monitor bird flu in farm animals and people who work closely with poultry and dairy cows.
State health officials had confirmed 37 human cases of bird flu in California as of Monday, but said the risk of people contracting bird flu remains low and no person-to-person spread of the virus has been reported.
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