Oregon warns consumers about raw milk as bird flu hits dairy cows nationwide
The Oregon Health Authority issued a warning Thursday about the risks of consuming raw, or unpasteurized, milk amid a nationwide outbreak of avian influenza in dairy cattle.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently tested 297 retail milk samples from 38 states for the bird flu, or H5N1, virus.
About 20% of samples tested were positive for H5N1 viral fragments, but none contained live infectious virus because the H5N1 virus had been killed through pasteurization.
“We know that if H5N1 is present in the milk of infected dairy cattle, it will be killed by pasteurization,” said Dean Sidelinger, health officer and state epidemiologist at OHA.
“Drinking raw milk carries many health risks, and those risks may now include H5N1 infection,” he said.
Pasteurized milk undergoes a heating process that kills most disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
Raw milk that someone consumes from the same farm over a duration of time may not always be safe, OHA officials said Tuesday. While good safety practices can reduce the chance of germs getting in raw milk, they cannot eliminate all risk.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there have been 49 dairy cattle H5N1 outbreaks across nine states.
No outbreaks have occurred in Oregon, but H5N1 is believed to be more widespread than current testing suggests, OHA said.
The avian influenza virus has been detected in commercial and backyard poultry operations in Oregon. Last November, nearly 800,000 chickens at two Willamette Valley poultry operations were killed in response to the first avian influenza outbreak to hit the state’s commercial poultry operations.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture is offering free testing for H5N1 to dairy farms of any size in Oregon. For additional information regarding the new testing program, visit: https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/AnimalHealthFeedsLivestockID/AHLicensing/Pages/Approved-Bovine-HPAI-Sampler.aspx.
Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon warns of raw milk as bird flu hits dairy cows
