By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Could 1, 2024 — Individuals consuming uncooked unpasteurized milk are in danger for doubtlessly contracting hen flu, the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration warned Wednesday.
“We proceed to strongly advise in opposition to the consumption of uncooked milk,” Dr. Donald Prater, performing director of the FDA’s Heart for Meals Security and Utilized Vitamin, mentioned throughout a Wednesday media briefing, the New York Instances reported.
Almost all dairy milk offered in shops is pasteurized, and the FDA says this course of seems to kill off the hen flu virus often called H5N1.
“The FDA and USDA have indicated that primarily based on the knowledge we presently have, our industrial milk provide is secure due to each the pasteurization course of and that milk from sick cows is being diverted or destroyed,” says an FDA Q&An internet site about milk security throughout hen flu outbreaks.
Federal officers proceed to emphasize that the hen flu poses a low danger to the general public at the moment, primarily based on this and different information.
However uncooked milk and uncooked milk cheese can harbor germs that pose critical well being dangers to shoppers, together with avian flu, the company added.
There have been 202 outbreaks linked to consuming uncooked milk between 1998 and 2018, leading to 2,645 sicknesses and 228 hospitalization, in keeping with U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention information cited by the FDA.
Even in the very best of occasions, uncooked milk “is likely one of the one of many riskiest meals that we’ve,” Benjamin Chapman, a professor and meals security specialist at North Carolina State College, advised the Instances.
Testing has discovered a “excessive viral load” in uncooked cow’s milk, Dr. Rosemary Sifford, deputy administrator of veterinary companies on the Division of Agriculture, mentioned in the course of the media briefing.
Additional, officers consider the primary manner the hen flu virus is spreading between cows is thru contact with milk, Sifford added.
It’s not clear whether or not uncooked milk can unfold hen flu to people, however researchers are persevering with to trace this, Prater mentioned.
“There’s not an amazing quantity of research displaying the infectivity associated to this virus and uncooked milk merchandise,” Prater mentioned.
The U.S. Division of Agriculture has confirmed circumstances of hen flu in dairy cows in 9 states.
Sources
U.S. Meals and Drug Administration, information launch New York Instances
Disclaimer: Statistical information in medical articles present common traits and don’t pertain to people. Particular person elements can differ significantly. All the time search customized medical recommendation for particular person healthcare selections.
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Posted Could 2024
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