The FDA is waiting on test results on the effects of pasteurization on the virus in cow's milk, but to date, it's seen nothing that would change the assessment that commercial milk is safe.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that fragments of the bird flu virus had been detected in some samples of pasteurized milk in the U.S. While the agency maintains that the milk is safe to drink, it notes that it is still waiting on the results of studies to confirm this.

The findings come less than a month after an outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu was found, for the first time, in herds of dairy cows in several states. It has since been detected in herds in eight states. ⠀

The FDA is specifically testing whether pasteurization inactivates bird flu in cow milk. The findings will be available in the “next few days to weeks,” it said. ⠀

Still, the virus remains a cause of concern among health officials, given its particularly high mortality rate of around 50%. Bird flu doesn’t spread easily from person to person, but there’s worry that it could mutate as it spreads among cows to a version that spreads more easily among people. So far, there’s no evidence indicating that has happened, according to the CDC.

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  • Treczoks@kbin.social
    6·
    11 months ago

    There is a very big difference between the headline of “Bird flu virus found in pasteurized milk” and the real message “fragments of the bird flu virus had been detected in some samples of pasteurized milk in the U.S.”. Turning potential health hazards and threats into harmless particles is the very job of pasteurizing. That is excactly why we pasteurize milk.

    Heck, the virus particles could even evoke immune reactions, thus vaccinating us in a natural way. Just by drinking milk.

  • coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world
    2·
    11 months ago

    The problem here is that the virus jumped species. So don’t suck on them cow tities.

    The pasteurized milk isn’t a problem.

  • Omega_Haxors@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Life advice we all learned from COVID: When a US agency tells you something looks bad but is perfectly safe, it’s definitely not safe.

  • Zoldyck@lemmy.world
    12·
    11 months ago

    One of the many reasons people should go vegan. Cows milk is for baby cows. Are you a baby cow? No? Well, stop behaving like one.

    • UNY0N@lemmy.world
      0·
      11 months ago

      Non-vegans are just sick of vocal vegans turning every conversation into a pro-vegan preach-fest. Factory farming is deplorable, but it’s not just a black & white issue.

      • Zoldyck@lemmy.world
        0·
        11 months ago

        You’re free to support animal genocide. Just don’t pretend you’re a good person if you do.

        • cAUzapNEAGLb@lemmy.world
          1·
          11 months ago

          Plants and fungi are alive too.

          The only way to stop killing, is to stop living.

          The solution is to be mindful of our food, to respect it’s life, be thankful in its death.

          What I eat, I sacrifice to me, and it lives on through me.

          • Zoldyck@lemmy.world
            0·
            11 months ago

            If you respect animals, you wouldn’t abuse and murder them just to satisfy your needs. Especially when you can satisfy those needs in harmless ways.

            And it’s not about being alive or not. Bacteria are alive as well. It’s about sentient live. Animals that can feel, think, etc.

            • cAUzapNEAGLb@lemmy.world
              1·
              11 months ago

              Plants respond and react stressfully to being cut and chewed and digested.

              To ignore this is just as bad as ignoring the plight of animals.

              You don’t have to be thankful for the food that you eat and sacrifice for your life, but I will. If you are vegan then you are already aware of some of this plight of life, especially the cruelty of factory farm animals, but I ask you to expand your mind to the plight of all living things.

              I know that when I thank my food, especially fresh plants, that I can feel a warmth of gratefulness radiate from my stomach. I recommend you try it with your next salad and when you are at your garden.

              I want my animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and all life that I interact with to live happy and fulfilling lives.

              The ones I eat to continue my happy and fulfilling life I am especially grateful for.

              It will be a constant struggle to ensure my food and all life I interact with is happy and fulfilled, and to reflect deeply on what I can change and improve when it is not.

              Humans are uniquely capable to manage and ensure quality of life for ecosystems . The water, the soil, the air, the plants, the fungi, the animals. We can choose the well trotted path to exploit, or we can choose the harder path to heal and maintain.

              My solution is to operate a homestead where I can ensure the food I eat and use have a quality happy fulfilling life, and a simple swift painless transfer of life to me and those I can provide for.