Dozens of cats in the United States have died after consuming raw pet food and raw milk infected with the H5N1 virus also known as avian flu. The USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration FDA have announced new policies to address the problem, focusing on pre-slaughter rules for poultry farms and food safety assessments for raw pet food producers. The deaths of domestic and stray cats are of public health concern, demonstrating the presence of the virus in commercial meat and milk products.
In more detail, in the face of numerous deaths in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington State, the USDA and FDA are turning their attention to rules affecting the stage prior to the slaughter of food animals from U.S. farms and to reviewing food safety risk assessment methodologies for producers of raw pet food.
The USDA stresses that “birds affected by the virus are not allowed to re-enter as a food supply resource.” However, some producers may resort to using unapproved meat. Eric Deeble deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs for the USDA said, “Obviously, the large amount of protein that is produced outside of facilities inspected by Food Safety Services and the USDA is never intended for human consumption.”
As stated in the official FDA report, the U.S. institution has determined that it is necessary for manufacturers of dog and cat food covered by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Preventive Controls for Animal Food (PCAF) rule and using raw or unpasteurized materials derived from poultry or cattle (e.g, raw meat, unpasteurized milk, or unpasteurized eggs) to reanalyze their food safety plans to include highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (specifically H5N1) “as a known or reasonably foreseeable hazard.”
“The FDA is releasing this update to ensure that dog and cat food manufacturers are aware of information about the new H5N1 hazard associated with their pet food products, which is all the more reason for manufacturers to conduct a reanalysis of their food safety plans,” the report points out.
