Bird flu virus found in batch of raw milk in California

“Out of an abundance of caution and due to the continued spread of avian influenza in dairy cows, poultry, and in sporadic cases in humans, consumers should not drink affected raw milk,” reads a statement. note issued by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) after bird flu was found in a batch of raw milk produced and sold in California. The agency, however, also stated that no illness has so far been associated with the batch of raw milk sold and that the pasteurized pasteurized milk remains suitable for consumption.

Last Thursday, the Santa Clara County Public Health Laboratory was testing unpasteurized dairy products sold in retail stores when one of the samples tested positive for H5N1 bird flu. Thus, the next day, at the request of the State, the Californian manufacturer Raw Farm carried out a voluntary withdrawal of the affected batch, the retailers removed it and those who had already purchased it were sent to immediately return it to the point of purchase. The sample is being analyzed by the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory. All results conducted by Raw Farm and all official testing by the CFDA (the California state agency that regulates and tests Raw Farm products) were negative. No illness has been recorded,” the company states in a release.

Raw milk, remember, can carry pathogens. Experts have long advised against the consumption of this product due to the high risk of animal diseases. As the CDPH notes, for example, outbreaks of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter, and many other bacteria linked to the consumption of raw dairy products have already been reported. Pasteurized milk, on the other hand, is safe for consumption, since pasteurization, that is, the process of heating milk at specific temperatures for a certain time, is capable of inactivating bacteria and viruses that can cause diseases, including avian flu.

Alert for bird flu increases

Although there are those who defend the benefits of raw milk, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr, chosen by Donald Trump as future Minister of Health, experts continue to remind us of the risks of consuming unpasteurized milk. In the case of avian flu, for example, experts from the Californian public health department, a country that in 2024 recorded 29 official cases of avian flu in people (just a few days ago the CDC reported the first pediatric case in the history of USA), state that “even simply touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands after touching contaminated raw milk can cause infection.”

Also expressing concern was Matteo Bassetti, director of infectious diseases at the San Martino hospital in Genoa, who stressed that pasteurization does not cause the product to lose quality. “We have to work so that all the milk is pasteurized: it is a process that has been done for 200 years and makes the milk free of bacteriological and viral risks because it reduces the microbial load,” the expert explained to Adnkronos Health. “What we have been seeing for months are the signs that avian flu is approaching humans in an important way, we are surrounded. The cow is the animal closest to humans, from milk to derivatives. So we have to pay close attention to the issue of bird flu.”