#17,597
Four days ago we saw the first suspicion that contaminated cat food might be behind the spate of cat deaths at local animal shelters (see Cat Food Recall Over H5N1 Contamination Concerns) in Seoul, and today the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFRA) has announced laboratory confirmation of HPAI H5N1 in the tested product.
Cat food highly pathogenic avian influenza confirmed
2023.08.04 08:00:00 Avian Influenza Prevention Division, Quarantine Policy Bureau
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs ( Minister Jeong Hwang-geun , hereinafter the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs ) announced that the avian influenza antigen (H5 type ) identified in companion animal feed (8.1.) collected as part of an epidemiological investigation in a facility with highly pathogenic avian influenza in cats located in Gwanak-gu, Seoul On August 3 , it was announced that it was finally confirmed as highly pathogenic (H5N1 type ) .
The feed for which highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed is ' Balanced Duck ( product name )' manufactured on July 5 at ' Nature 's Row * ' in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi -do .
* Recall for two products, 'Balanced Duck' and 'Balanced Chicken', manufactured from May 25 , 2023 to August 1 , 2023, where the process for sterilization and sterilization was not properly implemented by the company . under decommissioning
As soon as the avian influenza (H5 type ) antigen was detected in cat food on August 1 , the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs quickly shared and disseminated the detection situation to related organizations such as the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local governments , and epidemiological investigators from the Quarantine Headquarters supplied raw materials to the company. We are conducting a follow-up investigation by identifying the distribution channels of
Local governments are conducting emergency surveillance for the presence of clinical symptoms in cats for purchasers of the product , and are implementing quarantine measures such as disinfection and inspection of related facilities and farms according to the results of epidemiological investigations by the Quarantine Headquarters .
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs immediately stops feeding the feed , and if a cat that is or has been fed shows symptoms of highly pathogenic avian influenza such as fever , loss of appetite , respiratory symptoms ( difficulty in breathing , dry cough, etc. ) -4060, 1588-9060) emphasized to report .
(Disinfection Policy Bureau - Avian Influenza Prevention Division) Confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in cat food, press release (8.4 distribution).hwpx (file size: 120 KB) View
(Disinfection Policy Bureau-Avian Influenza Prevention Division) Confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in cat food, press release (distributed on August 4).pdf (file size: 139 KB) View
(Disinfection Policy Bureau-Avian Influenza Prevention Division) Confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in cat food, press release (8.4 distribution).hwp (file size: 129 KB) View
To their credit, after only 10 days South Korea has managed to identify a likely source of at least some of these feline infections.
In contrast Poland - which has been dealing with a similar outbreak in cats for the past 7 weeks - appears no closer to resolution, and hasn't released an official update in 18 days.
Admittedly the circumstances, and challenges surrounding each investigations may be quite different, but the continued `radio silence' from Polish officials has been disappointing.
