Bird flu claimed the lives of 20 big cats at a Washington wildlife center this month, forcing the sanctuary to close until further notice.

The Wild Felid Advocacy Center confirmed in a statement that bird flu killed 20 of its big cats. The virus killed five servals, four bobcats, four cougars, two Canadian lynx, a Bengal tiger, a Bengal cat, an African caracal, a Geoffroy’s cat and a Eurasian lynx, according to a post on Facebook.

“This tragedy has deeply affected our team, and we are all grieving the loss of these incredible animals,” the center wrote in a post.

The center said the cats died between late November and mid-December. While the center does not know how the cats contracted the virus, bird flu is typically spread through direct contact with a bird or through eating the meat of an animal that ingested an infected bird.

The sanctuary said it would be quarantined until further notice while staff disposes of nearly 8,000 pounds of meat and disinfects the facility.

The bird-flu epidemic is spreading to America’s feline population on other fronts.

An Oregon house cat died earlier this month after eating turkey-based cat food infected with bird flu. The animal’s death resulted in a nationwide recall this week of frozen pet food sold by Northwest Naturals.

Health officials around the country also are tracking an ongoing bird flu outbreak among humans.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a Louisiana resident was hospitalized for bird flu, the first severe case in the U.S.

The CDC has recorded 61 human cases of bird flu in the U.S. since April.

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.