Las authorities on the West Coast of the United States warned this Thursday to pet owners on the recall of frozen and raw foods contaminated with the avian flu virus, related to the death of a domestic cat. This situation has generated concern about possible infections between animals and people in the country.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) issued an alert regarding the recall of turkey product from the brand Northwest Naturals, which tested positive for a high-risk H5N1 strain pathogenicity. This food was distributed in various regions of the United States and Canada.
Ryan Scholz, ODA state veterinarian, said in a statement that they are certain the cat contracted the virus from consuming the product.
LEE: The bald eagle is officially designated as the national bird of the United States
“This cat was strictly indoor, was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and the genome sequencing results confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and the infected cat matched each other exactly,” he said.
The recalled product is sold in at least twelve states in the country, California, Florida, Georgia, Arizonay Pennsylvaniaand also in the Columbia British in Canada. The authorities and the company have asked that the product be discarded immediately.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is monitoring household members who had contact with the cat for flu symptoms.
To date, no human cases of bird flu have been linked to this incident and the risk of transmission to humans “remains low in Oregon,” officials said in the statement.
Only one case of avian flu has been detected in a person in that state and there are no confirmed cases in dairy cows.
A very different case in neighboring states, such as Idaho, Nevada y California, where infections have been reported in herds of dairy cattlecontributing to more than 700 confirmed cases in 16 states across the country.
Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency because the bird flu virus has been spreading through the state’s livestock farms and several cases have been reported in workers, in addition to an infected child.
YOU CAN READ: UPDATED list of countries that can enter the United States without a visa
In the United States at least 61 people have contracted the virus since Aprilthe vast majority of them are livestock or poultry farm workers, according to CDC data.
More than half of the cases have been reported in California (34), and all but one contracted the virus through infected products, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
In the state of Washington The death of twenty felines due to avian flu was reported in the month of December in an animal reserveaccording to Wild Felid Advocacy Center, in charge of the sanctuary.
YC