A batch of raw milk found to be contaminated with the H5N1 bird flu virus is being voluntarily recalled by its producer, Raw Farm. Sold in a California store, the milk contains a best by date of November 27, 2024, but as of yet, no illness in connection with this case has been reported. State health officials are advising consumers not to consume the product and are ordering retailers to pull it off the shelf.
The discovery follows close on the heels of a child in the U.S. contracting bird flu–a first case in the country. A growing number of concerns are now being raised in spreading the H5N1 virus, which was recently found in mammals such as a dairy cow, cats, and even in backyard pigs. This virus, known to infect mainly birds, has infected at least 55 people in the United States so far in this year, but a CDC report notes that human infection by way of intermediary animals is very rare.
Raw milk which is not pasteurized is a risk because such milk contains harmful bacteria and viruses. Pasteurization is a processing technique in which milk is heated to kill off those germs. Thus, pasteurization eliminates the kind of threat H5N1 poses. Raw, unpasteurized milk, however, has been associated with serious illnesses attributed to pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. Public health experts have used these risks, among others, to caution against the consumption of raw milk, for infection with bird flu when consumed directly or by contamination of the hands and mucous membranes following exposure.
With these dangers existing, though, demand for raw milk has increased. Mainly because some social media influencers and wellness experts promote it as having numerous health benefits that are unproven, a number of states have moved to allow it’s sale, and public figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and actress Gwyneth Paltrow have endorsed the products of raw dairy products.
Though the H5N1 virus is an alarming one, most human infections were primary from contact with infected poultry, not through dairy. The CDC keeps close tabs on the situation.
