Officials in Oregon and in Washington State determined that the illness stemmed from contaminated lots of raw pet food produced by Wild Coast Raw in Olympia, WA. Both cats were humanely euthanized due to the severity of illness, the press release stated.

Oregon saw its first case of bird flu in December ... The virus often causes no apparent signs of illness in wild waterfowl. When avian influenza viruses spread to domestic poultry, like chickens ...

This means four cats in Oregon have now been infected by avian influenza in the past two months, including two others in Washington County. The disease is more common among chickens and other poultry, but can spread to other animals through direct contact with infected birds or by consuming raw meat or milk.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Washington State Department of Agriculture are alerting pet owners about the dangers of raw pet food.

“Companion animals, and especially cats, are 100% a public health risk in terms of the risk of zoonotic transmission to people,” said virologist Angela Rasmussen, who studies disease progression in emerging viruses at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.

Echoing results from earlier California investigations into H5N1 infections in domestic cats, an investigation by agriculture departments in Oregon and Washington has renewed warnings about feeding pets raw food after their investigation into two cat illnesses in Oregon found that the pets were exposed to the same raw pet food brand.

Two more Oregon cats died this month after eating raw cat food that was contaminated with the deadly bird flu virus, prompting Washington state officials to issue a recall.

As H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in commercial and backyard poultry across the United States continue at a brisk pace, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has reported a few more detections in domestic cats.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture urged pet ... Testing confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in both cats, which lived in separate households, and samples of the ...

Washington and Oregon warn of bird flu risk in raw pet food after indoor cats fall ill, leading to euthanasia and product testing.

Samples collected from the infected cats and open food confirmed the presence of HPAI in both the food and cats