Bird flu is showing up in nation’s milk supply

Bill Wilson

Milk samples from grocery stores have contained viral fragments of the bird flu, reports the Washington Post.

The Food and Drug Administration made the announcement on Tuesday after testing milk samples during dairy production. The agency said some had viral particles.

The discovery does not pose a threat to humans, but it does reveal the avian flu is attacking dairy herds.

The FDA said in a statement that the virus “does not mean that the sample contains an intact, infectious pathogen.”

The next step is to grow the virus in cells and in fertilized eggs to determine whether intact pathogen is still present and if it remains infectious, which will determine if there is any risk of illness consuming the product.

Results are expected over the next few days or weeks, but the FDA said the commercial milk supply is safe.

According to the Washington Post, over two dozen livestock herds in at least eight states have been plagued with the avian flu since March 25, calling for the FDA investigation.

The FDA said pasteurization inactivates pathogens, and the process eliminates the threat to the nation’s milk supply.