The contamination was found after a Washington County house cat died from consuming raw frozen pet food contaminated with H5N1, or bird flu.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Morasch Meats and Northwest Naturals, both Portland-based company, announced a recall Tuesday of Northwest Naturals brand’s 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe raw and frozen pet food after a sample tested positive for bird flu — killing at least one house cat in Oregon.
The recalled product is packaged in 2-pound blue plastic bags with best used by dates listed for “05/21/26” and “06/23/2026.” The product was sold nationwide through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Washington, as well as British Columbia in Canada.
Morasch Meats said pet owners should check their pet food supplies and dispose of the product. For additional information or questions, customers may contact Troy Merriman of Morasch Meats of Portland at 503-257-9821 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday.
Customers may also contact Northwest Naturals of Portland at [email protected] or 866-637-1872 from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday.
The contamination was discovered after a house cat in Washington County contracted H5N1, also known as the bird flu, and died after consuming the raw frozen pet food. Tests conducted by a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory and Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Oregon State University later confirmed a genetic match between the virus in the raw and frozen food and the infected cat.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said Dr. Ryan Scholz, a Oregon Department of Agriculture state veterinarian. “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.”
To date, no human cases have been linked to this incident, ODA said. Oregon Health Authority is monitoring members in the household who had contract with the cat for flu symptoms.
To avoid the spread of disease, including bird flu, state and federal experts recommend people and their pets to:
- Avoid consuming raw or undercooked meat products
- Avoid consuming raw dairy
- Limit contact with sick or dead animals
- Wash your hands after handling raw animal products or contact with sick/dead animals
- Report sick or dead birds to ODA at 503-986-4711
- Keep pets or poultry away from wild waterfowl
As a protection in the spike in bird flu cases seen nationwide, ODA began testing milk on Dec. 11 from every commercial dairy across Oregon. While there’s been one confirmed human case of bird flu in the state, there are no confirmed cases of the virus in dairy cows or cow milk.
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