The Meals and Drug Administration stated Thursday that traces of the hen flu virus have been present in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk, offering a extra detailed image of how a lot of the milk provide has been affected.
The examined milk got here from a nationally consultant pattern, with extra of the constructive outcomes coming from milk in areas with contaminated herds of dairy cows, the FDA stated. A spokesperson declined to say what number of samples have been examined.
As of Thursday, hen flu had been detected in 33 herds in eight states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio and Texas.
Richard Webby, an influenza virologist at St. Jude Kids’s Analysis Hospital, stated the variety of constructive samples is in step with numbers he is reviewed from smaller pattern units.
“However the quantity does appear excessive if the variety of contaminated farms is certainly solely 30-odd,” Webby wrote in an e-mail. “Clearly there are extra contaminated animals on the market than being reported.”
The FDA first stated Tuesday that it had discovered viral fragments in commercially offered milk, triggering the Agriculture Division to challenge a federal order mandating that each one dairy cows be examined for hen flu earlier than they’re transported between states.
Well being officers keep — and consultants agree — that pasteurized milk is secure to drink. The FDA detected small items of the virus in milk, not stay, infectious virus.
“Proper now, all indication is that pasteurization is efficient,” stated Dr. Andrew Bowman, a veterinary epidemiologist at Ohio State College.
The FDA stated Tuesday, “To this point, now we have seen nothing that may change our evaluation that the industrial milk provide is secure.” It’s conducting research on the consequences of pasteurization on the hen flu virus in milk and expects to launch leads to the approaching days.
The virus, a pressure of hen flu known as H5N1, is regarding to public well being officers due to its excessive fatality charge: Greater than half of the individuals who have contracted the sickness have died, in response to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
Nevertheless, the virus doesn’t unfold simply between folks, and whereas it might trigger extreme sickness, the one two instances reported within the U.S. — one within the present outbreak and one in 2022 — have been delicate.
The priority is that it might in the future mutate in a manner that makes it unfold between folks extra simply.
Patrick Martin contributed.
