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H5N1 prevalence in milk suggest US bird flu outbreak in cows is widespread

The prevalence of H5N1 genetic material in purchased milk products suggests the bird flu outbreak is far more widespread in cows than official counts indicate.

The researchers expect additional lab studies currently underway to show that those samples don’t contain live virus with the capability to cause human infections, meaning that the risk of pasteurized milk to consumer health is still very low. Results returned Thursday morning showed PCR-positive milk in 20% of samples, “maybe with some preponderance for areas with known herds,” said Donald Prater, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Up until this week, USDA policy did not require testing of any animals, and only recommended it for dairy cows greater than 3 years of age that have been lactating for at least 150 days and are showing severe clinical symptoms like fever, lethargy, abnormal milk production, and loose stool.

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