Public well being officers in Michigan are once more warning in opposition to ingesting unpasteurized, uncooked milk, this time due to the extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) that has been present in dairy herds.
The virus has been present in dairy cattle in eight states, together with Michigan. It has additionally been detected in wild mammals and birds in addition to home hen flocks. Hundreds of thousands of chickens have needed to be destroyed due to the outbreak.
Two instances of an infection from the virus have been confirmed in individuals in america and sufferers have been recognized in different international locations.
The Michigan well being officers are reminding the general public that pasteurization kills viruses akin to HPAI, but it surely survives in uncooked milk.
“Now that HPAI is infecting each cows and birds, it’s essential to just be sure you are consuming meals that’s secure, together with making certain that the milk merchandise you eat or drink are pasteurized,” mentioned Michigan’s Chief Medical Govt Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian.
“Anybody can get sick from ingesting uncooked milk, however youngsters below age 5, adults over age 65 and people with weakened immune methods are extra in danger for getting sick.”
Pasteurized milk is extraordinarily secure and has undergone a heating course of which kills disease-causing germs like Campylobacter, E. coli and Salmonella. Individuals who eat uncooked (or unpasteurized) milk, cheeses and different dairy merchandise like ice cream created from uncooked milk are in danger for quite a lot of sicknesses. Solely pasteurized milk is bought in shops and offered to youngsters in class lunches in Michigan.
Individuals can get unwell from the identical supply and product of uncooked milk they drank beforehand – milk that somebody consumes from the identical farm over a length of time could not all the time be secure. Uncooked milk can turn into contaminated in some ways. Whereas good security practices can cut back the prospect of germs getting in uncooked milk, they can’t eradicate threat, based on the Michigan public well being company.
The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration doesn’t presently have issues concerning the security or availability of pasteurized milk merchandise nationwide. Pasteurization has regularly confirmed to inactivate micro organism and viruses, like influenza viruses, in milk and is required for any milk getting into interstate commerce.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention recommends taking the next steps to cut back threat:
- Select pasteurized milk and dairy merchandise.
- Refrigerate milk, dairy merchandise and different perishable meals at 40 levels F or colder.
- Throw away expired meals, together with milk and dairy merchandise.
For extra data, go to CDC.gov/foodsafety/rawmilk.
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