Canada geese eat grass during a brief snow shower in Willamette Park in southwest Portland, Ore., Feb. 9, 2019. Officials believe a Washington County that was recently euthanized contracted avian flu from exposure to wild ducks or geese.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
A cat from Washington County has been euthanized after becoming severely ill with bird flu that officials think it got from exposure to wild ducks or geese.
It’s the second cat to be diagnosed with highly pathogenic avian influenza in Oregon in two months.
The cat had a fever, runny nose and eyes, lethargy, difficulty breathing and a loss of appetite, which prompted a veterinarian to report it to the Oregon Department of Agriculture as a suspected avian flu, or H5N1, case. Preliminary tests confirmed the diagnosis, and indicate that it’s not the same strain of the virus that’s been circulating in dairy cattle in other states.
In December, a house cat — also from Washington County — died after eating raw frozen pet food. That prompted a national recall of the feline turkey recipe sold by Portland-based Northwest Naturals pet food company.
Related: Oregon house cat dies after eating pet food that tested positive for bird flu
The Oregon Department of Agriculture said cats are especially sensitive to avian flu.
The agency said people should avoid feeding cats raw milk, raw or undercooked meat — and keep them away from cattle, poultry or wild birds. The agriculture department also encourages cat owners to wash their hands after touching raw meat, and to consider changing clothes and shoes after interacting with animals or birds of unknown health status.
Around 900,000 birds have died or been euthanized after contracting bird flu at small-scale backyard chicken coops and commercial operations across the state. It’s part of a national epidemic that’s killed millions of chickens and has been blamed for driving up the price of eggs.
Starting around 2022, H5N1 made its way across the country’s commercial and backyard poultry farms, spread by wild migratory waterfowl. And in 2022, two Oregon cats died from the virus.
But in March 2024 it was detected at a U.S. dairy farm for the first time, in Texas, and evidence now suggests that it’s mainly spreading from cow to cow.
To date, the state has no confirmed cases of H5N1 in cattle, though the first-ever U.S. case of avian flu in a pig was reported in Oregon in November. The agriculture department is conducting weekly tests at the state’s commercial dairies.