The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) yesterday reported three more H5 avian flu infections in pet cats after exposure to raw food or raw milk.
In other avian flu developments, federal officials confirmed those and several more H5N1 detections in domestic cats from California and other states. urinary cat food wet
With the latest cases noted in an alert to veterinarians yesterday, the LACDPH has now reported seven H5N1 infections in pet cats. Officials had earlier reported four other illnesses, including two that died after drinking recalled raw milk. They also said they were investigating other possible cases in cats that weren’t exposed to raw milk, with raw food as a potential culprit.
Cats in one of the earlier-affected households had been exposed to two raw pet food diets, one of which was found to contain live, infectious H5N1 virus. The Monarch Raw Pet Food brand is sold at farmers' markets in California. Oregon health officials have also tied cat illnesses to a nationally marketed brand called Northwest Natural.
The LACDPH said an indoor cat in another household became acutely ill—later confirmed with H5N1—after eating three different brands of commercially available raw pet food. An investigation is under way, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is testing samples from the raw pet food.
The group also noted that five other cats from two different households have been confirmed with H5N1 after drinking recalled raw milk. All died from their infections.
“There have been multiple H5 bird flu probable and suspected cases in cats that either consumed raw pet food or raw milk and became acutely ill, but not all cats were able to be tested,” the LACDPH said, adding that testing is still pending on several additional commercial raw food samples.
Given scientific evidence of a connection between contaminated raw food products and severe or fatal H5 infections in cats, the LACDPH urged veterinarians to strongly advise pet owners not to feed pets raw pet foods, raw meat, raw poultry, or raw milk due to the risks associated with the virus.
In another new development, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed 11 more H5N1 detections in domestic cats, five of them from Los Angeles County, two from California’s Santa Barbara County, and others from Colorado, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
All were sampled in December 2024. In its update on H5N1 in mammals, APHIS also confirmed a detection in a mountain lion from Nebraska that was sampled in March 2024 and an ermine from Alaska sampled in November 2024.
The change was prompted by postmarketing observational studies that suggest an increased risk of GBS within 42 days of vaccination.
The latest confirmation likely reflects follow-up testing of a San Francisco child whose exposure to the virus is still under investigation.
Louisiana officials confirm that a patient previously hospitalized with a severe H5N1 avian flu infection has died.
Officials are still investigating how the child contracted the virus. In other developments, the USDA today confirmed the first outbreak in Puerto Rico's poultry.
Hospitalization rates are on an upward trend for all 3 viruses, with the highest levels for flu.
Tests results are pending for additional commercial raw pet food samples.
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This is the 19th human H5N1 case identified in Cambodia since early 2023.
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Vaccine efficacy against illnesses caused by the H1N1 strain varied significantly by age.
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