Raw milk recalled for containing bird flu virus, California reports

Bird flu virus has been found in a batch of raw—unpasteurized—milk sold in California, prompting a recall issued at the state's request, health officials announced over the weekend.

No illnesses have yet been linked to the contaminated milk, made by Raw Farm, LLC of Fresno County. The contamination was found in testing by health officials in nearby Santa Clara County, who detected the virus in milk from a retail store. The state laboratory has confirmed the finding.

In a YouTube message from Raw Farm, a company representative called the contamination "not a big deal" and emphasized that the recall is only being done out of an abundance of caution.

The detection of bird flu in retail raw milk is troubling but not surprising given the unprecedented and ongoing outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among US dairy cows, which is currently soaring in California, the country's largest dairy producer. Since the virus was first detected in state herds in late August, California has tallied 402 infected herds, which is among the country's 616 total across 15 states since March. Further, California has reported 29 confirmed human cases of bird flu, 28 of which had direct contact with infected dairy cows. The US has reported a total of 55 human cases.

It's not entirely clear how dangerous it is for humans to ingest avian influenza virus in contaminated milk; typically, people are infected by human influenza viruses through the spread of respiratory droplets. But researchers and regulators consider bird flu-containing milk a clear biohazard.

Leave a Comment