PORTLAND, ORE. — Morasch Meats issued a voluntary recall of its Northwest Naturals Feline Turkey raw and frozen pet food formula on Dec. 24 due to a cat’s death from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), a sample of the cat food tested positive for the H5N1 strain of HPAI.
Testing conducted by the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) and the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ODVL) at Oregon State University confirmed that a house cat in Washington County contracted the virus and died after consuming the pet food. Additionally, tests confirmed a genetic match between the virus in the formula and the virus in the infected cat.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said Ryan Scholz, DVM, state veterinarian with the ODA. “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 recall only impacts Northwest Naturals’ 2-lb Feline Turkey Recipe raw and frozen product. The food is packaged in plastic bags with “Best if used by” dates of 05/21/26 B10 and 06/23/2026 B1. The cat food was sold throughout the United States through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington, and in British Columbia, Canada.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and public health officials are monitoring the household that had contact with the deceased cat for virus symptoms. To date, no human cases of HPAI have been linked to this incident and the risk of transmission to humans remains low in Oregon, according to the OHA.
In November, the state reported its first confirmed case of HPAI in a human, unrelated to this recall. Oregon has not reported any cases of the virus in dairy cows or cow milk, though the ODA remains vigilant and is testing milk from every commercial dairy throughout the state as neighboring states continue to report cases.
Read more about recent pet food and treat recalls.
