The Oregon Division of Agriculture unequivocally said that Northwest Naturals uncooked, frozen pet meals was the supply of H5N1 extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that contaminated and killed a pet cat. Nevertheless, the proprietor of Pacific NW Pets, the place the product was bought, instructed Pets+ a unique facet of the story than introduced by state officers. The proprietor, Jennifer Flanagan, said the contaminated cat was not a strictly indoor cat, contradicting the Oregon Division of Agriculture press launch. The cat, named Villain, incessantly accompanied her proprietor into Pacific NW Pets, Flanagan mentioned, and appeared in social media posts on outside excursions, reported Pets+.
Cats which might be allowed outside have the potential to come across wild birds contaminated with HPAI and contract the virus after consuming or interacting with both stay or useless birds. Even an atmosphere contaminated with HPAI, or chook flu, might be a vector for infecting a cat, in line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
One other query on this case is how the meals security strategies adopted by Northwest Naturals might have failed. Northwest Naturals states in a FAQ on its web site that the corporate makes use of high-pressure processing to cut back the potential for pathogens to outlive of their uncooked merchandise. The corporate doesn’t but know why the processing appears to have been ineffective at eliminating the virus.
In a letter to distributors quoted by Pets+, Northwest Naturals famous that multiple million kilos of uncooked turkey have been processed since the batch of affected turkey concerned within the recall went by means of the system. Additionally, there had been no different studies of HPAI contamination or an infection associated to the 2 recalled lot codes bought in August 2024 previous to the Oregon Division of Agriculture alerting the corporate of its findings.
How excessive stress processing works
Excessive-pressure processing creates intense stress uniformly round a pet meals container, often in a sealed tank of water. That stress is transferred immediately and equally all through the uncooked pet meals.
Underneath this excessive stress, disease-causing microorganisms and food-spoiling enzymes are deactivated. The approach works no matter bundle measurement and form, so long as the container can face up to the processing situations.
The pressures utilized in HPP causes few bodily modifications to the components because the stress doesn’t appear to noticeably have an effect on covalent bonds (a sort of atomic-scale attraction) in meals, in line with analysis printed within the e-book “Extremely Excessive Stress Therapies of Meals.”
Excessive stress processing prices end result from working stress, maintain time at stress, and working prices for upkeep, energy and labor. The value of high-pressure tools will increase exponentially with rising working stress.
Exact mixtures of stress and time are wanted to neutralize pathogens in particular mixtures of components, volumes and different elements in high-pressure processing. These mixtures would have to be confirmed to inactivate key meals pathogens resembling E. coli O157:H7, Listeria spp., Salmonella spp., or Staphylococcus spp. in uncooked pet meals. HPAI is a virus. Excessive stress processing needs to be able to inactivating it, since analysis on different viruses means that the extraordinary stress might denature, or unravel, proteins within the virus’ capsid. Nevertheless, HPAI is a comparatively new menace, and the precise mixture of stress and time wanted to make sure inactivation should have to be decided for uncooked pet meals formulations.
Public well being officers and pet meals corporations proceed making an attempt to find out how HPAI repeatedly happens in pet meals across the world.
Pet cats die of avian influenza related to uncooked merchandise in California
On Dec. 31, 2024, the Los Angeles County Division of Public Well being warned residents to not feed their pets Monarch Uncooked Pet Meals bought at a number of farmers markets in California as a result of detection of the extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus in product samples. A home cat that consumed this product examined constructive for the virus. 4 different home cats from the identical family are presumed to have additionally been constructive for HPAI after consuming the product.
“Residents ought to keep away from consumption of all uncooked milk and uncooked meat merchandise and never feed these to their pets,” the Division mentioned in a press launch.
On Dec. 18, the Division confirmed H5N1 HPAI in 4 home cats that consumed recalled Uncooked Farm uncooked milk. The cats grew to become sick and died. Two contaminated indoor cats from one family consumed uncooked milk linked to a recall of uncooked milk and cream merchandise previous to onset of signs. The contaminated cats died after extreme worsening of their sickness and subsequently examined constructive for HPAI, which the Division later confirmed. Further pets within the residence are underneath quarantine.
The division then investigated extra doable circumstances of HPAI in three cats from a unique family. One cat examined constructive for the influenza virus. Two different cats within the family died after worsening respiratory sickness, later confirmed to be HPAI. These cats weren’t recognized to be uncovered to uncooked milk. Nevertheless, public well being is investigating different doable sources of an infection, together with uncooked meat.
There have been no human circumstances of chook flu related to publicity to those cats but recognized.
Oregon cat died after consuming avian-influenza-contaminated uncooked pet meals
Within the aforementioned case involving Northwest Naturals, one cat caught extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus and subsequently died after consuming Northwest Naturals model 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe uncooked frozen pet meals. Portland, Oregon-based Northwest Naturals recalled one batch of this product after it examined constructive for HPAI. As of Dec. 24, no human circumstances of HPAI have been linked to this incident.
Testing carried out by the U.S. Division of Agriculture’s (USDA) Nationwide Veterinary Companies Laboratories (NVSL) and the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ODVL) at Oregon State College confirmed {that a} home cat contracted H5N1 and died after consuming the uncooked frozen pet meals.
“We’re assured that this cat contracted H5N1 by consuming the Northwest Naturals uncooked and frozen pet meals,” ODA State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz mentioned in a press launch. “This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not uncovered to the virus in its atmosphere, and outcomes from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the uncooked pet meals and contaminated cat have been precise matches to one another.”
The Oregon Well being Authority (OHA) and native public well being officers are monitoring family members who had contact with the cat for flu signs.
38 cats died after consuming bird-flu-tainted cat meals in 2023
The circumstances in Oregon and California bear similarities to at least one in South Korea wherein 38 out of 40 contaminated cats died inside a month. That 2023 HPAI outbreak occurred in shelter cats that had all been saved indoors, so it appeared unlikely that wild birds had unfold the pathogen to the cats. As a substitute, the virus might have unfold to the cats by means of their meals. Investigators with South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Meals and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) detected influenza A(H5N1) virus in cat meals from one of many shelters. The cat meals have been Balanced Duck and Balanced Hen manufactured by Nature’s Uncooked at its facility in Gimpo, west of Seoul. The Ministry said that the corporate had didn’t observe crucial sterilization steps since Might 25 as a result of an tools malfunction. MAFRA officers then ordered the recall of all cat meals batches thought of susceptible to harboring the virus.
A crew of researchers examined this outbreak and printed a abstract in Nature Communications, together with solutions for controlling future cross-species illness transmission.
“The influenza A(H5N1) outbreaks within the cat shelters in South Korea, together with an rising variety of studies of influenza A(H5N1) an infection in mammals, counsel the necessity to improve the effectiveness of infectious illness surveillance and prevention in any settings the place a bunch of doubtlessly prone animals are saved in shut contact,” they wrote. “This is especially vital for teams of animals that usually usually are not lined by regulatory efforts geared toward sustaining or enhancing animal well being and welfare requirements. These animal teams couldn’t solely present environments for cross-species viral transmission, selling zoonotic danger, however may additionally serve as sentinels for detecting such occasions, thereby providing alternatives to assess after which mitigate such danger.”
FDA gives tips to cut back HPAI danger in cats, emphasizes pet meals security
The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) offered details about methods to scale back the chance to pets of contracting H5N1. The company issued suggestions for protected feeding practices after investigations revealed hyperlinks between HPAI infections in felines and the consumption of contaminated or improperly processed meals merchandise.
Current studies have proven that home and wild cats, together with species resembling tigers, mountain lions and lynx, are extremely delicate to HPAI. There have been a number of latest investigations indicating transmission of HPAI to cats by means of meals, most frequently unpasteurized milk or uncooked or undercooked meats. Cats shouldn’t be fed any merchandise from affected farms that haven’t been completely cooked or pasteurized to kill the virus. Cats must also be saved from searching and consuming wild birds.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) highlighted a regarding case in its July 2024 report. Home cats on a dairy farm contracted HPAI after being fed unpasteurized milk from cows contaminated with the virus. The cats displayed neurological signs and later died from systemic influenza infections.
The U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) is actively monitoring HPAI in wild mammals, together with feral and home cats, by means of its surveillance and testing program. Whereas canine are much less prone to the virus, the FDA advises that related precautions be taken for canines to mitigate danger.
Avian influenza or chook flu naturally spreads amongst wild aquatic birds worldwide and may infect home poultry and different chook and animal species, in line with the World Well being Group. Extremely pathogenic avian influenza is a subtype of the virus. It could possibly trigger extreme sickness and excessive mortality charges in home poultry and wild birds. The viruses can devastate poultry industries and have financial repercussions as a result of commerce restrictions. Some varieties, together with H5N1, can cross species obstacles and will trigger extreme diseases in mammals.
Signs of HPAI in cats and people
Cats contaminated with H5 chook flu can develop extreme sickness which will embrace neurologic indicators, respiratory indicators or liver illness that may quickly progress to loss of life, in line with the Los Angeles County Division of Public Well being.
Signs in cats contaminated with H5N1 chook flu might differ and embrace:
- Loss of urge for food
- Tiredness
- Respiratory and/or neurological indicators
Signs of H5N1 extremely pathogenic avian influenza an infection in people might embrace:
- Eye redness or discharge
- Cough
- Sore throat
- runny or stuffy nostril
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- muscle or physique aches
- Complications
- Fatigue
- hassle respiration
- Fever
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