Remnants of killed bird flu virus have been found in milk at American grocery stores, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The bits of virus have undergone pasteurization, which David O’Connor, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said should mean the virus cannot hurt anyone, according to The New York Times.
“The risk of getting infected from milk that has viral fragments in it should be nil,” he said. “The genetic material can’t replicate on its own.”
The real issue, he said, is that “the problem in dairy cows might be much bigger than we know. That would be the concern — not that the milk itself would be a risk.”
The virus that causes bird flu has been found in dairy herds in Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and South Dakota, according to the Associated Press.
According to a statement from the FDA, “the presence of the virus has been detected in raw milk.”
“Based on available information, pasteurization is likely to inactivate the virus, however the process is not expected to remove the presence of viral particles. Therefore, some of the samples collected have indicated the presence of HPAI using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) testing,” the FDA said.
“Even if virus is detected in raw milk, pasteurization is generally expected to eliminate pathogens to a level that does not pose a risk to consumer health,” the FDA said.
Amid its assurances, the FDA said there is still research to be done to be sure.
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“Given that the detection of H5N1 in dairy cows is a novel and evolving situation, no studies on the effects of pasteurization on HPAI viruses (such as H5N1) in bovine milk have previously been completed,” the FDA said, using the technical name for bird flu.
“Because qPCR findings do not represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers, the FDA is further assessing any positive findings through egg inoculation tests, a gold-standard for determining viable virus. To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe. Results from multiple studies will be made available in the next few days to weeks,” the FDA said.
Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said the assurances ring hollow, according to The New York Times.
“I understand that the milk market is very concerned about a loss of even a few percent of milk consumption,” he said, adding that “the idea that you can avoid this kind of discussion by just giving absolutes is not going to serve them well.”
“It seems they learned little from the communication lessons that COVID taught us,” he said.
Dr. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said the findings indicate there are more infected cows than has been previously acknowledged, according to CNN.
“The dissemination to cows is far greater than we have been led to believe,” Topol said.
“The FDA assurance that the dairy supply is safe is nice, but it’s not based on extensive assessment yet, which they acknowledge, and won’t engender trust and confidence because it comes in the wake of USDA mishandling,” he added.
Dr. Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization’s coordinating center for studies on the ecology of influenza at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, said the current predicament of bird flu in cows was not part of any plan.
“No one ever thought it was going to be in cows,” he said.
“You wouldn’t even think of an H5N1 in cows being something you’d ever have to worry about, and I think that’s where it’s fallen through the cracks a little bit,” he said.
The Department of Agriculture recently issued a bulletin calling the spread of bird flu to dairy herds “a rapidly evolving situation.”
