Raw milk may be riskier amid avian flu outbreak in U.S. Stick to pasteurized dairy, experts warn – CBC

Early research shows pasteurization works to neutralize H5N1 virus

May 09, 2024

An outbreak of avian flu in U.S. dairy cattle has federal officials in Canada and the U.S. testing milk sold in stores to ensure pasteurization and other food safety measures are working.

Cows sickened with H5N1 in the U.S. produced milk that was abnormally thick and yellowish. The first known outbreak of this form of H5N1 in dairy cattle has since been confirmed in several U.S. states.

Veterinarians also discovered the virus in the lung of a U.S. dairy cow that didn’t show symptoms and originated from an affected herd. The animal did not enter the food supply.

But federal officials in Canada noted last month that spillover into livestock increases opportunity for genetic changes that could result in a virus better able to infect mammals, which includes humans, “especially if the infections are mild or asymptomatic in cattle and go unnoticed with minimal infection precautions.”

After U.S. scientists discovered fragments of the virus in one in five samples of processed milk, officials on both sides of the border introduced surveillance of milk being sold on store shelves to ensure it is free of traces of the virus.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/pasteurization-h5n1-1.7197170