In this episode, we tackle the growing threat of H5N1, also known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, and its unsettling spread beyond birds into cats, dogs, and even dairy cattle. An expert panel from BSM Partners explains how the virus is transmitted, what makes it dangerous to pets and people, and why your pet’s food safety practices matter now more than ever. We break down the real risks and share actionable tips for safeguarding your home and pets. Lean on this episode in your quest to stay informed, stay prepared, and protect the companions who rely on you for safe, nutritious food!

Helpful Links

🧠 Learn more about H5N1 and pet food safety from BSM Partners’ expert team: https://bsmpartners.net/insights/filter/hot-topic-bird-flu

👀 Watch our full, FREE webinar on H5N1 and pet food safety here: https://youtu.be/09YfbJPXWi4

💼 If you’re a pet food industry professional, check out our separate (also free!) webinar explaining how manufacturers can mitigate H5N1 risk and protect their supply chains: https://youtu.be/z-G1Z7cHuH4  

📖 Read more about how the pet food industry is addressing avian influenza from Pet Food Processing magazine: https://www.petfoodprocessing.net/articles/19159-protecting-pets

🎧 Curious about comodones? Check out our episode on Global Pet Expo 2025 here! https://bsmpartners.net/barking-mad-podcast/feeding-the-future-pet-trends-and-technology-from-global-pet-expo-2025

Show Notes

00:00 – Welcome Back!

02:37 – H5N1 In Recent News

04:07 – What is H5N1, How Does it Spread, and Who is at Risk?

06:14 – What We Know About H5N1 Transmission to Pets

07:50 – Digging Deeper into Pet Food Risks

11:00 – What to Trust, and What to Watch

12:53 – Questions to Ask Your Pet Food Brand

15:53 – Household Risks & Safe Food Handling Tips

23:08 – Environmental Hazards to Consider

25:18 – Symptoms of H5N1 Infection in Pets

27:59 – Diets to Be Mindful of Amid H5N1 Outbreaks

29:28 – Key Takeaways From Our Expert Panel

30:44 – Wrap Up and Stay Tuned!

Jordan Tyler: We're about to dive into a topic that's less cuddles and kibble and more biological thriller. We're talking about H5N1, or as it's more ominously known, highly pathogenic avian influenza. This isn't your garden variety sniffle. H5N1 is a sinister piece of genetic code that's been lurking in the shadows, primarily amongst our feathered friends. But here's the kicker—it's not always content to stay there.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Imagine a virus with a chameleon-like ability to adapt, mutate, and find new hosts. That's H5N1. For years, it was the stuff of nightmares for poultry farmers, causing devastating outbreaks. But recently, this virus has been showing a disturbing willingness to jump species, and that's where your beloved pets come in. We're seeing increasing reports of H5N1 infections in mammals, including, alarmingly, cats and dogs. This isn't just a theoretical threat. This is happening now. The virus is evolving, and the stakes are getting higher.

Jordan Tyler: They are. So why should you, a devoted pet owner, care about this issue? Well, because H5N1 isn't just a bird problem anymore, it's a potential threat to you and your pets, and the delivery method could be what you're putting in your pet's bowl.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: So, buckle up, buttercups. We're diving headfirst into avian apocalypse because apparently, cuddles and kibbles aren't the only thing your furry and feathered friends are bringing to the table. This week, we're tackling all things H5N1, the bird flu that's decided to spice things up by jumping species like a viral kangaroo.

Jordan Tyler: Forget cute animal memes. We're talking mortality rates that'll make your vet sweat. And supply chain crises that'll make any manufacturer stray from poultry.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: So, grab your disinfectant, question your pet's recent cough, and let's dissect this disease and where it has left us. Welcome to Barking Mad, a podcast by BSM Partners. We're your hosts, Dr. Stephanie Clark—

News Anchor No. 1: Some cat food is being recalled over bird flu concerns.

News Anchor No. 2: Showing no signs of slowing down, and it's impacting everything from your grocery bill and potentially your pet's food.

News Anchor No. 3: Tonight, a nationwide voluntary recall of pet food is linked to bird flu. It's only the latest case of a domestic cat catching the virus.

Experts say this strain of avian influenza can be deadly to mammals, and cats are especially vulnerable.

Jordan Tyler: This happened on the Pacific Coast and has cropped up all over the United States since, and it's really put pet owners on high alert. So, to provide some information around this issue, BSM Partners gathered its experts, and we hosted a free webinar for pet parents to really dive into.

What is H5N1? How does it spread? What are the real risks to people? And what are the real risks to pets? And how can we mitigate those risks? So, we will take you through the high points of that conversation today, and we'll also link to the full webinar in the show notes for this episode so that you can listen to the whole thing if you'd like.

But let's start out today with some insights from Dr. Katy Miller, who is the Director of Veterinary Services at BSM Partners. She'll tell us a little bit more about what the virus is, how it spreads, and who is most at risk.

Dr. Katy Miller: So, H5N1 is an influenza type A virus that primarily affects wild birds and poultry. It is widespread in wild waterfowl, so it makes it very difficult to control the spread of this virus because it is out in the wild bird population. It's considered highly pathogenic, which means it is very efficient at killing things. So, it can kill up to 100% of infected birds within 48 hours.

The way that it can be spread is through direct contact with these birds that are infected or through a contaminated environment, so areas where they eat, drink, or sleep. And then there's also airborne transmission. Currently, right now, this H5N1 is a hot topic because it's affecting poultry and dairy cattle in the U.S.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Isn't that terrifying that this can be where you eat, where you drink, or sleep? It's airborne transmission—it's everywhere, right? Like, if you think about how many pathogenic bacteria and viruses are all around us, it's really terrifying. No wonder people want to wash their hands all the time and wear masks

Jordan Tyler: Seriously. And then it's even scarier when you know something originates in one species, and then it can be transmitted to other species. And so now we're having to mitigate it on a wider scale and worry about our own health as well as our pets' health.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Yeah. And you know, you mentioned that this happens yearly, and I know BSM had tackled this a couple of years ago when it popped up again, but it kind of makes you wonder, like, what are we doing for cats and dogs? What are we doing to mitigate this risk? I mean, it's not a new thing, and this is becoming a huge issue for our pets.

Jordan Tyler: So, one of the things we know about H5N1 today is that yes, it can be transmitted to other mammalian species, so humans can get it, dairy cattle can get it, dogs and cats can get it. But while we know it can be transmitted; we also know that it really does prefer to live in birds.

Dr. Katy Miller: That's your largest risk. The transmission from an infected bird to an animal or a person. People in direct contact with these flocks. So, poultry workers, veterinarians, and dairy workers are going to be at a higher risk than other people in the population just because they're going to come in contact with these animals that may be infected.

And then on the pet side, it's infected birds usually. So, if you have an outdoor cat or you have a hunting dog that may be exposed to these birds that could be infected, that's where you're, you're at the highest risk. And then there's also the environmental exposure. So, things like bird baths. Bird feeders, backyard poultry, and flocks—that contamination of the outside environment can also be a route of infection and is much more likely than—we have a low risk of contaminated food, so raw meat and unpasteurized dairy risk, but it's much, much lower than the pets coming in contact with an infected bird or an environment, just because those are more common situations where you would come in contact with this virus.

Let's go a bit deeper with Dr. Bradley Quest, Principal of Veterinary Services at BSM Partners, who explains how using heat to cook our pets' food is the best defense against H5N1.

Dr. Bradley Quest: The good thing about avian influenza, or really a lot of these pathogenic viruses or viruses that can cause diseases, is they're inactivated or they're killed in much of the same way. And in most cases, easier than some of the more common pathogens or bacteria that we test against to try to make sure that they're not present in pet food. Things like Salmonella and E. coli that a lot of people have probably heard more about.

As far as safety and pet food, if you take care of those pathogens, you will definitely take care of avian influenza. So, products that we know aren't going to be affected or aren't going to be at much risk, if at all, are anything that's going to be cooked and heated to any temperature greater than 165 degrees Fahrenheit. This would include extruded kibble, the most common format for both dog and cat food, and canned cat and dog food products that are cooked. We call that a retort process.

Jordan Tyler: So, here's the deal—raw ingredients, while potentially nutritious, are a breeding ground for bacteria: Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria—you know, the usual suspects.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: And even in cooked foods, contamination can happen post-processing. It's clear that proper pet food processing isn't just some optional extra. It is a critical defense for our pets and ourselves. We've been weaponizing heat and other methods to neutralize harmful bacteria for our own food for ages, and the same kill-or-be-killed logic applies to what we dish out for our cats and dogs.

Dr. Bradley Quest: There are other processes other than cooking that we know will help inactivate pathogens, including avian influenza. Some of them use really high pressures to do that. There are other ways to mitigate some of these, such as radiation and other processes, too.

But I think it's really important to understand as well that all of these processes, other than cooking, vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. So, it's always really important to understand how a specific brand or a specific product is doing what they need to do with their specific product to ensure that that risk is mitigated.

Jordan Tyler: The bottom line is that pet food safety is a complex game of risk management. Manufacturers are trying to balance safety, nutrition, cost, and consumer preferences. And while there are robust processes in place, the occasional recall proves that no system is foolproof. So, how do we know in an outbreak like H5N1, what types of pet food to trust?

Dr. Bradley Quest: You know, we already talked about whether you're feeding a kibble, a canned, or a pouch, a retort-cooked product, or a baked product there's very little risk to both H5N1 or any of the other pathogens or bacteria, viruses that we've talked about, you know? But we also know that the pet food industry is very big and there's a lot of, we'll call it, alternative-formatted products out there, and it doesn't mean that all these products aren't safe.

The term raw is used kind of loosely in the pet food industry. Raw is not a regulatory term. It's, it's just more of a description that a lot of companies use to describe their products. Some raw products may actually undergo processing, even though they're claiming to be raw; they may actually be undergoing some of these processes.

Freeze drying is another process out there. However, I will say that freeze drying alone, without any other process, is not going to inactivate the virus. It can help preserve the product, the nutritional value of the product, but it's not going to mitigate risk from a pathogen like H5N1.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: So, just quickly recapping what Dr. Quest said, some raw foods can actually undergo processing to help mitigate or reduce bacterial risk. And some freeze-dried products, but not all, can do the same. This sounds like a big gray area, so we're going to cut back in with Dr. Quest on how he proposes that pet parents can get more information to help make a better or more appropriate decision when they're feeding their pet.

Dr. Bradley Quest: You should ask companies what they are doing to mitigate the risk. Where are they getting their ingredients from? Are these USDA inspected, you know, ingredients, if they're sourcing raw chicken or raw turkey or raw duck, any kind of raw poultry? Where's it coming from? How are they ensuring that their product is going to be safe when you feed it to your pet?

What are they doing? Are they using any of these alternative processes that we've talked about? And then, what does their process look like? Do they have a good way to ensure, once the finished product's made, that it's not going to get recontaminated with some raw ingredients somewhere in the plant?

Have they undergone third-party audits? Do they practice good manufacturing practices? We call those GMPs, and there are a lot of independent third-party certifications that pet food manufacturers can undergo that show that they're doing everything they can to mitigate risk, not just for H5N1, but really for any other kind of food safety issue.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: So, pet owners can reach out to companies that make the pet food that they want to buy or are already using and ask them these same questions. And these companies should be open and honest with their replies.

Jordan Tyler: I mean, think about it. If you are doing everything you can to safeguard your product, make sure that it's not containing any pathogens like the usual suspects we talked about earlier, but also H5N1. They should be proud to share that information with their customers, right?

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Well, I mean, if they're not, you just have your decision right there.

Jordan Tyler: Exactly. So, what else can we be asking the people who make our pets' food? Let's bring August Konie, Principal of BSM Partners’ Food Safety, Quality Assurance, and Regulatory practice, into the conversation.

August Konie: Well, I love that Dr. Quest brought out third-party auditing. I think that's a real, real good one. A real key one. Being transparent, like are they publishing or putting their methodology on their websites? Are they actually posting their audit scores? Are they showing you lot testing? You know, like some companies will put lot testing out there, actually showing you negative results for things.

These are all things that kind of all go to the overall landscape of getting an idea, like Dr. Quest says, understanding your supplier of your brand, your favorite brand, then understanding and feeling pretty confident that they're doing a good job.

Jordan Tyler: So again, those are all really good questions that you can ask your manufacturer if you want to know more about how they're safeguarding their products in light of this outbreak. And I want to circle back on something that Dr. Quest mentioned about the possibility for products to be recontaminated even after they've been processed or cooked. So, let's flip it back to August and hear a little more about this post-processing recontamination risk.

August Konie: So, keeping things separated, like keeping the pet food separated from the human food, is a good idea. So even if you are eating fresh, it's a good idea to have it on the lowest shelf in the fridge or have its own separate little mini fridge or that kind of thing. These are all like little techniques to keep things separated.

Wash your hands after every serving. That's key. It's like number one. Frequently clean bowls. I recommend, or when I sit there and talk to people, I recommend that no wet food sit out for over 24 hours. Ideally, I'd like to see it under eight hours, but definitely for sure by 24 hours. This will keep things fresh. This will prevent the ability for microbial growth. You know, this will help limit that opportunity.

Change out your storage containers frequently. This is a common one in the pet area where they put in a big garbage can in the garage, and they throw the kibble in there, and that's the last of it. They just keep adding to it and adding to it and adding to it. It's like stop and think. When's the last time you actually took the time to drain it and really clean it out?

Jordan Tyler: Oof… Guilty as charged. But it's crazy when you think about the science of pet food packaging that we don't just keep it in the bag.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: I never thought about it. And it's there to protect, and it's there to maintain the shelf life. And I'm like, “No, I'm just going to put it in this plastic container that I haven't cleaned in, I don't know, a year or two really.”

I just, I feel so bad now, like working in pet and I'm like, “Wow. We spend millions and billions on packaging and the science behind packaging, and people go to school to learn packaging, and I'm like, no thanks. This plastic container. I'm good.”

Jordan Tyler: This plastic container that I'm never going to clean…

Dr. Stephanie Clark: But it, I mean it, going back to H5N1, it goes back to that post-processing or after cooking contamination. I mean, even if the company does everything excellent, and then this packaging is there to protect it, and I'm like, “Hey, that's cool, and then I'm going to recontaminate it because I decided not to clean this plastic bin under my cabinets.”

Jordan Tyler: Exactly, and it comes back to the idea like, okay, you practice safe food handling for your own family, right? Why wouldn't you do the same thing for your pet? So, it's just like being mindful in the kitchen and treating the pet's food like you would like the same safety standards that you would treat your own food.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Yeah. Regardless of its cooked or raw. I know everyone's like, “Oh, it's cooked.” But I mean, you wouldn't leave cooked chicken out on your countertop. Like you would pick up the pieces and wipe them down with Clorox or Lysol or something.

August Konie: Sanitize and wipe surfaces. Any of the sanitizer wipes, like it has been shown to be effective, that bleach-type products, quaternary ammonium-type products, all the common Clorox wipes, Lysol, all that stuff also works for H5N1. So, anything that prevents viral spread of any kind is also going to be effective against this particular organism. It's been proven safe.

And then I would say anytime that you're working with leftovers, refrigerate them. So, if you're feeding wet, I mean, I do this for my own cat. I feed a half a can of wet in the morning and half a can at night, in between morning and night, the can is in the fridge, so I don't just leave it sitting out on the counter and stuff like that. Plus, then it also, again, if you have that separated area in your refrigerator, then you're also preventing countertop contamination by leaving it out on the counter. So, these are some things that we can do at home just to make it better.

I guess the last one, and the one I kind of forgot initially, is to clean your utensils. If you use scoop spoons, tongs, whatever you guys use, a cutting knife—make sure you clean those between servings, as well.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: So, totally confession time and again, going back to I should be better about cleaning, but let's be honest, life happens, and we do our best, but I know I should be so much better about cleaning my dog's bowls.

So, I have two littles at home. You know this, Jordan, I've got a 4-year-old and a 5-month-old, and it's right there on the floor, right? The pet food, the bowls, they're right there, and it's easily exposing my two girls to their fragile immune system. I mean, my 4-year-old is a little bit hardier now that she eats, you know, dirt.

But my 5-month-old, much more fragile, and you know, because Salmonella, it's everywhere. And, you know, nobody's got time for that. So, I just had my kitchen redone—thank God it's over—and I had some grout that the construction guys had, it had dripped, and it dripped onto the dog's bowl. And it wasn't until then that I picked it up, and I was like, “Well, I guess I gotta clean this.” That I like really started scrubbing out the bowl, and I'm like, “There's probably a good couple weeks since I've last done this,” and I mean, I add it to the things that I need to clean. We've got extra bowls to kind of swap them out. But again, life, right?

Jordan Tyler: Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Unfortunately, we walk past it every day, and I'm like. I'll get to it. I'll eventually get to it. Right?

Jordan Tyler: No, but you're totally right, and I had really never thought about it super hard either until I went to Global Pet Expo and I learned about cat acne… cat-cne.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Cat-cne!

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Link to the show notes below.

Jordan Tyler: But I mean, I guess before I learned this, I was just like, oh yeah, it's just water, right? But no, not only was I potentially cultivating some kind of science experiment in my cat's bowls, but I was like helping them along to get acne. Apparently, it's these dirty water bowls that can contribute to bacteria that gets all up in a cat's pores. So, the longer you don't clean it, the more bacteria builds up and the worse it can get.

And like, I don't know about y'all out there listening, but like, it doesn't feel good when my pores are all clogged up with, you know, gunk. So, I imagine I can't feel good for my cats either.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Can you imagine like the cat's like rubbing their chin on your couch and they're like, “Ha, ha ha, I'm just popping my zips.”

Jordan Tyler: Oh man. Yeah. So, moral of the story. Wash those water bowls. Wash those food containers. If you put your pet food in a bin at home, you’ve got to wash this out every few weeks. It's not just about preventing bacterial growth. It's also about keeping your furry friend healthy, keeping their skin clear, making sure they don't drink grout, you know, all those good things.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Baseline. Anyways, let's pop back to the topic at hand.

Jordan Tyler: Yes. Grabbing our exfoliant and really getting in there as we extract some of the environmental risks of H5N1 when it comes to our pets. Throwing it back to Dr. Katy Miller as she gives some great tips on how to keep your home environment pathogen and virus-free.

Dr. Katy Miller: Yeah, you want to make sure that not only are you minimizing the contact with wild birds, so this would be like having your dog on a leash at all times and keeping cats indoors, when possible. But you want to be mindful of the things that you have outside that may attract wild birds. So, things like bird feeders and bird baths. If those are present, clean them frequently, and you want to make sure that you're using, for yourself, use some gloves, and then, like August said, like a Clorox, bleach, or quaternary ammonia product to disinfect that area after you clean up and then dispose of your gloves and any waste material right into the garbage directly, and minimize your pet's exposure to that. Don't let them help clean up around the bird feeder, things like that.

And then, when it comes to actually your pets, one thing that we want to keep in mind is that they can spread things through their waste as well. So, you want to have proper hand washing after you pick up after your pet outside, just in case they happen to have an infection, as well. And that could be anything from Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, avian influenza, all that. Just make sure you wash your hands after you pick up after your pet.

August Konie: You see this recurring theme that just making sure that the things you touch, that you've taken care of, those things will go a long way.

Jordan Tyler: So armed with all this knowledge and questions to ask your pet food brand, hopefully, we can all feel a little better about our pet's health and safety amid H5N1. But, and we really can't emphasize this enough, it's important to remain vigilant. So, let's hear again from Dr. Katy Miller about symptoms to watch for and your pets.

Dr. Katy Miller: Well, the first thing you want to do is, anytime you're worried about your pet, is to see your vet right away and get their opinion on whether it's something that needs to be seen or something that you can kind of monitor at home. But unfortunately, avian influenza can have gastrointestinal, digestive upset problems like vomiting and diarrhea.

It can also have respiratory. Problems associated with it like a runny nose, eyes, and a cough. Especially in cats, they can get neurologic signs, so they can be kind of unsteady on their feet or excessive vocalization, but it could be just as mild as a fever, a loss of appetite, or fatigue. And so, these are really common signs that are more likely to come from something else than avian influenza.

But if you have a concern, you want to just talk to your vet right away. And then the most important thing to do is to keep it in mind if you have a high-risk pet. So those would be pets that have access to the outside, unsupervised dogs and cats that go outside. If you live near something, you like to walk near a pond, somewhere waterfowl would congregate if they have contact with wild birds in general, if they're a hunting dog or you know that your cat likes to hunt birds if they are on a diet that doesn't have a kill step with it.

And then also if you live in proximity to farms, so a poultry farm or a dairy, um, that, that could be a potential higher risk, or if you, yourself, work at a dairy or poultry farm or your veterinarian, your pets are at higher risk of becoming infected, and so you want to let your vet know that right away so that they know that the avian influenza might be a higher possibility for those pets.

This being a respiratory virus, if you already have a respiratory illness and you get this virus, it's going to be that much worse for that pet. And we've really focused on cats because they seem to be very susceptible. But this is also a possibility in dogs. And so, you would either have a dog or a cat that has respiratory issues, you just want to be extra vigilant in protecting them from this disease, just because they would be even more severely affected than a healthy pet would be.

I would be on top of those signs that we talked about, and if you have any concern about your pet and you think that they're showing any signs of avian influenza, you'd want to get them to your vet and have them evaluated.

Jordan Tyler: So obviously, there are multiple ways for this virus to spread, but I want to bring it back to the question of pet food risk specifically. So, let's hop back over to Dr. Quest and get a better idea of what diets may be a higher risk category for pets amid the H5N1 outbreak.

Dr. Bradley Quest: It's a little complicated because, like we said earlier, raw pet food, there are a lot of different products on the market that call themselves raw pet food. So, some of those actually undergo some of the processes that we talked about that would help to reduce any virus or any other pathogen present, to help reduce that.

Now, there are products out there that actually don't undergo any kind of processes that would help to kill and deactivate the virus. So, the key takeaway is if you're feeding something other than. A kibble, a canned or pouch, or a tray, pet food, or a baked pet food, to contact the manufacturer. I know we talked about it earlier, but just ask them, how are you ensuring that your products are safe, not just for H5N1, but for other pathogens too?

Because this is a large segment of the pet food industry. And so really, you know, when you talk about Ross, since there are so many different formats of raw products out there, you almost have to take them on a case-by-case basis. And that means talking to the manufacturer about it to find out what they're doing.

Jordan Tyler: So, we've thrown quite a lot at you today, but I want to end with some key takeaways to really land the plane on H5N1. So, let's come back to our expert panel.

August Konie: Don't panic. It's in the news. It's out there, but it's been out there for 150 years. You know, we have testing. Simple mitigation, such as hand washing, proper cleansing of utensils, can go a long way to preventing cross-contamination

Dr. Bradley Quest: If you're feeding an alternative formatted product, anything claiming to be raw—and again, we're not here to debate, you know, the pros or the cons—but understand how that manufacturer is mitigating that risk.

Dr. Katy Miller: Your pet is at far greater risk of contracting avian influenza from coming in contact with waterfowl or wild birds than they are from their pet food. It's important to be knowledgeable about the steps that pet food companies are taking to mitigate this risk, but the risk is still very low.

And then if you are concerned at all that your pet has. Contracted avian influenza. It's important to talk as soon as possible with your veterinarian. They can run a test for H5N1 and rule that out as a possibility for infection if you're concerned.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Now that we've ruffled some feathers, and before you panic, here's what pet owners need to know about H5N1. While it's been around, its evolution is the main concern. The risk from pet food is generally low, but it is essential to check with manufacturers about their safety measures, especially for raw products.

Jordan Tyler: And remember, wild birds are a greater threat to your pet than their food bowl when it comes to H5N1. And while the risk from pet food is again low, it's not impossible, particularly with unprocessed pet foods that lack some of the safety protocols that our more processed foods benefit from.

So, if your pet displays any unusual symptoms, and especially if they're in a high-risk group, don't delay. Consult your vet immediately to rule out H5N1. And lastly, as we said earlier, this happens every year. The main vector for this virus to spread is through wild birds. Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza are spurred in large part by fall migratory patterns.

This means the virus typically begins to spread in the fall and winter months as more wild birds migrate south for the winter, peaks, and then begins to taper off in the late spring and summer months. So, this will continue to be an issue that impacts poultry products like meat and eggs, unpasteurized dairy products, as the virus seems to have spread to dairy cows in this most recent outbreak, and finally, our pets’ food.

As we continue to combat this safety risk with wings, BSM Partners and the barking med team will be keeping our eyes on the skies and our boots on the ground to bring you the most up-to-date information about how to keep you and your pet safe. And how the pet food industry can do its part.

Dr. Stephanie Clark: Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Barking Mad. If you want to learn more about BSM Partners, please visit us at www.bsmpartners.net. Don't forget to subscribe to your favorite leading podcast platform or share it with a friend to stay current on the latest pet industry trends and conversations.

Jordan Tyler: A big thanks to Dr. Katy Miller, Dr. Bradley Quest, and August Konie for sharing their insights, actionable tips, and providing us with a little peace of mind. We'd also like to thank our dedicated team: Ada-Miette Thomas, Neeley Bowden, Kait Wright, Cady Wolf, and Dr. Katy Miller. An extra thank you to Lee Ann Hagerty and Michael Johnson in support of this episode. See you next time!