Bird Flu Found in 2nd Lot of Raw Milk

UPDATE Nov 29, 2024 1:00 AM CST

Bird flu has been detected in a second lot of raw milk sold in California. The virus was found in cream top, whole raw milk from Raw Farm LLC, the same farm that produced the first lot in which the virus was detected, NBC News reports. It's now voluntarily recalling products with code 20241119 with a "best by" date of Dec. 7, though it says in a statement that "all of the cows at Raw Farm are healthy and do not show signs or symptoms of HPAI or Bird Flu." It acknowledged that cows in its herd could be shedding the virus asymptomatically, and said that the state's Department of Food and Agriculture has put them under quarantine, meaning their milk must be pasteurized and cannot be sold raw until the quarantine is lifted. No illnesses have been linked to the raw milk.

Nov 25, 2024 8:57 AM CST

California health authorities have detected bird flu in raw milk sold in stores and issued a recall, reports the Visalia Times Delta. No illnesses have been linked to the batch sold by Raw Farm of Fresno County. (This state news release covers the particulars of the affected batch.) The development comes amid rising concern over the virus, which has infected 55 people in the US so far this year, per the Washington Post—including the first-ever case of a child. However, it's not actually clear if a human could contract bird flu from drinking milk tainted by the H5N1 virus, notes STAT News. However, the outlet notes reports of dead cats found on farms with infected cows.

"We don't know what oral consumption of milk will do," Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy, tells STAT. "Some people have extrapolated from the fact that … cats have [become infected] from oral ingestion of milk. We don't know how that plays in humans." He adds that he's not surprised it has turned up in commercially sold raw, or unpasteurized, milk. The pasteurizing process kills the virus.

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The release from the California Department of Health warns that raw milk exposes people to a number of foodborne illnesses. Expect the issue to remain in the spotlight because Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—chosen by President-elect Trump to run the Department of Health and Human Services—is an advocate of raw milk and wants to boost access to it, notes the AP. Gwyneth Paltrow also is a public booster of it. (More bird flu stories.)