- The FDA and CDC insist that milk found on supermarket shelves is still safe to drink
- Bird flu has already killed millions of birds, seals and livestock since 2022
- READ MORE: Americans express concern about the arrival of BIRD FLU
Samples of pasteurized milk tested positive for traces of bird flu, which has already killed more than 90 million birds, thousands of seals and several cattle.
Government health officials insist that traces of bird flu in milk are inactive and that the findings do not indicate that milk on grocery store shelves is unsafe.
While they have maintained that the public does not need to be alarmed or throw away their milk, the escalation of the virus has shown no signs of stopping, and the fact that it has infiltrated mammals is worrying for virologists.
The FDA said it believes the virus particles detected through extensive testing were likely leftovers from the pasteurization process.
Wild birds that carry bird flu viruses include waterfowl, such as ducks, geese and swans, and shorebirds, such as storks. Bird flu has already killed about 90 million birds in the US.
The bird flu virus has killed about 17,400 seal pups in a single colony in the United States. The virus’s ability to jump from birds to mammals has worried some virologists
The FDA said: ‘Pasteurization is a process that kills harmful bacteria and viruses by heating milk to a specific temperature for a set period of time to make the milk safer.
“Even if viruses are detected in raw milk, pasteurization is generally expected to eliminate pathogens to a level that does not pose a health risk to the consumer.”
The agency added: “To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe.”
It did not offer details, such as which brands of milk contained virus residue.
In addition to infecting birds, seals, cattle and cats, the virus infected a farm worker in Texas.
The H5N1 sample showed it had a mutation that was “known to be associated with viral adaptation to mammalian hosts,” but he insisted the mutations were minor and the overall risk to the public was low.
This mutation was not detected in cattle or wild birds, and officials said it may have been acquired through an eye infection.
Avian flu has taken over the animal world since 2020, leading to mass culling of poultry and other birds. Another theory says
Infected migratory seabirds are believed to passed through Greenland and came to the US from Europe.
Others say the birds probably carried the virus when it crossed the Atlantic and landed in Newfoundland to breed.
The FDA’s announcement comes amid growing concern about outbreaks among dairy cows, which has resulted in restrictions on imports of cattle from states where the flu has been detected.
States like New York have also issued warnings to residents to stay away from local wildlife, such as geese, hawks and falcons, which can also carry the deadly virus.
Meanwhile, states such as Iowa, California and Minnesota have begun testing their animals for the virus.
Infected cattle are described as “lethargic”, eating less feed and producing less milk.
The cows may have been infected through bird droppings that reach the pastures where they congregate and graze.
So far, 28 farms in eight states have reported H5N1 infections in their cows, including 11 in Texas and six in New Mexico.