SILVER SPRING, MD. — Following rising concerns about highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in pets, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced that pet food manufacturers using uncooked or unpasteurized ingredients derived from poultry or cattle are now required to reexamine their food safety plans to include HPAI, specifically the H5N1 virus strain, as a known or foreseeable hazard. 

Currently, the administration is tackling cases of H5N1 in both domestic and wild felines in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington that have consumed contaminated food. Additionally, the virus has been detected in raw pet food formulas from Morasch Meats and Monarch Raw Pet Food, leading to various cats contracting the virus. 

According to the FDA, H5N1 can now be transmitted to cats and dogs if they consume products from infected poultry or cattle, like unpasteurized milk and raw meat, that have not undergone a processing step such as pasteurizing, cooking or canning. The virus poses particularly dangerous to cats, with many experiencing severe illness or death. Dogs are also able to contract the virus, however, they usually exhibit mild signs and low mortality compared to cats. To date, no dogs in the United States have contracted HPAI. 

With this top of mind, the FDA is imploring pet food manufacturers covered by the Food Safety Modernization Act Preventive Controls for Animal Food (PCAF) using such raw products to implement food safety plans that consider HPAI. 

“Manufacturers that implement a preventive control for the H5N1 hazard as a result of their reanalysis will be taking an important step toward protecting cat and dog health and helping to prevent spread of H5N1,” the administration shared. “Addressing H5N1 will require a concerted effort across sectors, including by government, businesses and consumers.”

To help mitigate HPAI in pet food, the FDA recommends that processors seek ingredients from flocks and herds that are healthy, use processing methods such as heat treatment to inactivate the virus, and implement controls throughout the supply chain to ensure ingredients do not come from HPAI-infected animals. 

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