United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed in an online update on Thursday (April 25) that traces of the bird flu virus have been identified by federal regulators in approximately 20 percent of retail milk samples after they were tested in a nationally representative study.
The agency noted that samples with a higher likelihood of yielding positive test results were gathered from various regions across the nation and belonged to virus-infected dairy herds.
The FDA stated that traces of the bird flu virus were found in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk. As of now, cases of bird flu have been documented in 33 herds spanning eight states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio, and Texas.
Absence of evidence of milk’s hazardous nature for consumers
Regulators reiterated that, thus far, no evidence has surfaced indicating that milk is dangerous for the consumption of the consumers.
They added that no presence of ive virus has been found in the milk on store shelves. Public health experts have also agreed with the assessment of the regulators.
However, traces of the virus in samples of milk from around the country confirm a bird flu outbreak in dairy cows.
Nevertheless, the presence of virus traces in milk samples from various regions has provided clear indications of the bird flu outbreak among dairy cows. Richard Webby, a virologist and influenza expert at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital commented, “It suggests that there is a whole lot of this virus out there.”
The FDA’s findings emerged less than a month after the H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected for the first time in dairy cows across multiple states. Subsequently, the flu has been identified in herds in eight states.
Collaborative efforts in investigating the outbreak
The FDA has been collaborating with the US Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the outbreak. The testing methodology employed is known as PCR testing, which identifies fragments of genetic material. A positive result does not necessarily indicate the presence of a live, infectious virus.