The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has detected genetic evidence of H5N1 avian influenza in the country’s milk supply. However, the agency emphasizes that its tests cannot determine if the contamination originated from a live virus or fragments of the virus that had already been destroyed by pasteurization, a process that kills harmful bacteria and viruses.
“Based on available information, pasteurization is likely to inactivate the virus, however the process is not expected to remove the presence of viral particles,” the FDA wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “Therefore, some of the samples collected have indicated the presence of HPAI using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) testing.”
The FDA maintains that the U.S. milk supply is still safe to drink because of pasteurization efforts and the agency’s ongoing efforts to intercept and prevent known contaminated milk from entering the supply chain. According to the FDA, nearly 99% of U.S. milk farms comply with its pasteurization ordinances.
The FDA and other regulators are actively testing milk for H5N1 and other pathogens throughout all stages of production. The agency is examining milk samples under the same conditions that commercial dairy farms prepare and pasteurize milk. Additionally, the FDA is testing milk that has already reached store shelves, along with other dairy products like cream and whole milk.
The detection of H5N1 in the milk supply is a concern for the poultry industry and public health officials. H5N1 is a highly contagious virus that can cause severe respiratory illness in birds and humans. However, there have been no reported cases of human infection with H5N1 from consuming milk or dairy products in the United States.
