A pet cat in Oregon died of bird flu after eating raw cat food that tested positive for H5N1. This is the latest worrying development in the ongoing spread of bird flu in animals and humans this year.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Office has partnered cat death Thursday. Death comes after a bird flu epidemic at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center in Washington this month. The epidemic killed 20 big cats, including African servals, bobcats, and cougars.

According to ODA officials, the domestic cat tested positive for an H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI, which is genetically identical to viruses found in samples of raw and frozen pet food sold by the Northwest company. Naturals. Although no human cases linked to the pet food have surfaced so far, the company has issued a voluntary recall of its affected products.

“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said ODA State Veterinarian Ryan Scholz in a department statement. “This cat is an indoor cat; it was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and the genome sequencing results confirmed that the virus obtained from the raw pet food and the infected cat were exact matches to each other.”

Northwest Naturals has issued a voluntary recall of its Northwest Naturals brand 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe raw and frozen pet food. The company is specifically recalling its 2-pound plastic bags with “Best if used by” dates of 05/21/26 B10 and 06/23/2026 B1. Products are sold nationwide in the US

H5N1 bird flu has become a serious public health concern recently, thanks to ongoing outbreaks in wild birds and poultry, as well as the emergence of H5N1 and other avian influenza strains in dairy cows and other mammals this year.

As in early Decemberoutbreaks of H5N1 in dairy cows have occurred in 16 states this year. More than 60 human cases of H5N1 in the US already documented in 2024, most were linked to contact with infected cattle or poultry. The cats, too, were caught in the fray. There have been several outbreaks of bird flu in domestic cats and wild big cats in zoos and animal sanctuaries this year, in the US and elsewhere.

Cases of H5N1 in domestic cats are usually traced back to cats drinking contaminated unpasteurized, or raw, milk, even while live on dairy farms or from drinking commercially sold products. Much research has shown that raw milk can be a viable transmission route for the spread of bird flu in humans. There is already other new cases of H5N1 in cats traced back to improperly sterilized raw food, although this is the first case found in the US

The silver lining is that no other cases of H5N1 have been tied back to Oregon’s cat or pet food (one human case of H5N1 was reported in the state this year, although it was not connected to cattle milk or milk). On December 11, the Oregon Department of Agriculture announced that it would test milk from every commercial dairy in the state as a precaution against the spread of bird flu; That decision comes on the heels of hundreds of confirmed cases of bird flu in 16 states, including from dairy cows in Idaho, Nevada, and California.

While human cases of H5N1 this year have been mild so far (although not all), some research suggests that H5N1 is particularly dangerous to cats. And the longer these viruses are allowed to circulate between cows, cats, humans, and other mammals, the greater the risk that a nasty, pandemic-ready strain of eventually emerges—one that can easily spread between people and cause widespread disease and death.

H5N1 isn’t the only potential danger that can come from eating raw pet food, Oregon health officials say. These products also have a higher risk of containing other bad germs such as Salmonella, Listeriaand E. coli bacteria.