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Oregon avian flu cat death prompts nationwide raw pet food recall
University of Minnesota ^ | 12/29/24 | Lisa Schnirring

Posted on 12/29/2024 11:05:18 AM PST by EBH

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) yesterday reported that a house cat has died from H5N1 avian flu after eating raw frozen pet food, which has prompted the voluntary recall of raw pet food that was sold nationwide through distributors in 12 states as well as in British Columbia.

The development is part of a growing number of avian flu infections in cats, including new detections in pets from a second California county.

Genetic match between cat and raw food viruses In a statement, the ODA said the house cat that tested positive for H5N1 died after eating raw food. Tests confirmed a genetic match between a sample from the cat and the virus from Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food.

Ryan Scholz, DVM, Oregon’s state veterinarian, said officials are confident the cat contracted the virus from Northwest Naturals food. “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 involves the company’s 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe raw & frozen pet food. The product was sold nationwide through distributors in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington.

Oregon’s Health Authority is monitoring household members who had contact with the sick cat, and the ODA is urging consumers who bought the recalled food to discard the product.

Virus kills two Santa Barbara County cats Last week, Los Angeles County issued an animal health alert about H5 in domestic cats following illness reports in cats from two households, one where cats had consumed recalled raw milk and the other involving a cat that was exposed to an unspecified commercially produced raw pet food.

On December 23, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department announced the confirmation of two H5 avian flu infections in pet cats from two different households. After testing positive for influenza A, a rare occurrence in cats, the cats experienced severe neurological symptoms and died from their infections.

The source of infection is still under investigation.

“Currently, there is no evidence of local cat-to-cat, cat-to-human or human-to-human spread of H5 bird flu, and the risk to the general public continues to be low,” the health department said. It added that people who have close contact with wild birds or their feces, infected cats, dairy cows or raw milk, sick poultry, and infected cats may have a higher risk of exposure.

Dairy herd detections top 900 amid more detections in poultry and wild birds Since December 23, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed 25 more H5N1 detections in dairy cattle, all from California, raising the state’s total to 685 and the national total to 901 from 16 states.

APHIS also confirmed more outbreaks in poultry flocks in five different states, including three more layer farms in three different California counties, Riverside, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus.

The virus also hit turkey farms in Oklahoma’s Adair County, Illinois’ Lawrence County, and Michigan’s Ottawa County.

Also, the virus struck backyard poultry in Missouri, Vermont, and California.

Meanwhile, APHIS reported more than 60 more H5N1 detections in wild birds across a wide portion of the country, mostly involving waterfowl. The sample collection dates range from late November and into December.

The detections are a mix of hunter-harvested, mortality events, and live sampling. Many of the samples are from Georgia, Iowa, New Mexico, and northwestern states including Washington.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: birdflu; h5n1
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To: EBH

All covid cases first broke out in blue states. Now bird flu virus is in California and Washington state. What does that tell you about these genetically engineered super viruses?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_early_cases_of_COVID-19_in_the_United_States
There are several answers.
None of them good.


21 posted on 12/29/2024 12:35:21 PM PST by doc maverick
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To: 9422WMR

Actually going to raw food is what saved one of my cats years ago, but that’s a story for a different day.


22 posted on 12/29/2024 12:42:18 PM PST by EBH (America Blackmailed, The True Story of the World War...Coming Soon (1/21-))
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To: Cold Heart

(snicker, snicker)


23 posted on 12/29/2024 1:03:25 PM PST by RedMonqey (!Trump, the once and future president!)
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To: EBH

I can believe that fresh meat saved your cat’s life. Cats are ‘obligate carnivores’ which means their bodies do not produce certain amino acids that can only be found by consuming meat. Putting a cat on a vegan diet is like putting a human on all meat diet. The human will die of scurvy from lack of vitamin C within months.

Veganism is an insane cult, about 80% of vegans have mental issues.


24 posted on 12/29/2024 1:15:39 PM PST by wildcard_redneck
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To: doc maverick
All covid cases first broke out in blue states.

I always been my policy when my cat dies to do a full autopsy and screen for pathogens. I'm guessing that you would not find N5-H1 unless that's what you were specifically looking for.

25 posted on 12/29/2024 1:26:50 PM PST by usurper (AI was born with a birth defect.)
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To: EBH
“Currently, there is no evidence of local cat-to-cat, cat-to-human or human-to-human spread of H5 bird flu, and the risk to the general public continues to be low,” the health department said. It added that people who have close contact with wild birds or their feces, infected cats, dairy cows or raw milk, sick poultry, and infected cats may have a higher risk of exposure.

How old was the cat and what was it's health like?

And they know the avian flu killed it?

26 posted on 12/29/2024 1:39:37 PM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus)
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To: bgill

Our family has been drinking raw milk for years.

No one has ever gotten sick from it.

All the dairy farm kids I knew grew up drinking raw milk, well water, and playing around the farm. And dairy farms are not pristine. They must have great immune systems with that kind of workout.


27 posted on 12/29/2024 1:43:23 PM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus)
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To: wildcard_redneck
Veganism is an insane cult, about 80% of vegans have mental issues.

That could be due to vitamin deficiencies.

Vegetarians are also going to be B12 deficient.

Any diet which requires vitamin supplementation to keep you healthy is NOT a good diet to be on.

28 posted on 12/29/2024 1:46:29 PM PST by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus)
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To: EBH

Cat should have had a mRNA vaccine by Pfizer supported with rah rahs from the Marxist State Media.


29 posted on 12/29/2024 2:35:12 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (We used to be a Republic, we are now a Fascist Klepto-Thugocracy. until Jan 20, 2025)
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To: usurper

They would have to collect blood and run a test for avian influenza A(H5).
Then you’d know.


30 posted on 12/29/2024 4:02:38 PM PST by doc maverick
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To: Beowulf9

“I’ve never felt comfortable with raw pet food. Never bought it.”

in general, assuming reputable, sanitary production facilities and quality ingredients, FROZEN raw pet food should be safe and healthy IF FULLY COOKED prior to feeding ... OTOH, i can’t imagine that simply refrigerated raw cat food would have a long or safe shelf-life ...

we actually make our own catfood, usually about 60 pounds at a time, made from finely ground WHOLE chicken thighs (which contain an ideal fat/flesh/calcium proportion), plus ground organic chicken hearts and livers and a few human-quality supplements like taurine plus unflavored concentrated fish oil ... we freeze this in one pound chubs and then cook one chub every 2-3 days or so ]mixed with organic chicken broth and organic bone broth to make sure kitty gets plenty of liquid ...

our lucky Bengal boy cat is big, beautiful, smart, energetic, playful, cuddly, loves to play games, “helps” with all household activities, loves to learn tricks for treats, and pretty much runs the household to boot ...


31 posted on 12/29/2024 9:55:01 PM PST by catnipman ((A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil))
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