FILE PHOTO: Test tubes is seen labelled “Bird Flu” words in front of U.S. flag in this illustration taken, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
By Nancy Lapid
(Reuters) – In raw milk samples spiked with high amounts of bird flu virus, small amounts of infectious virus were still detectable after treatment with a standard pasteurization method, researchers said on Friday.
The findings reflect experimental conditions in a laboratory and should not be used to draw any conclusions about the safety of the U.S. milk supply, according to the authors of the study from the U.S. government’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Rocky Mountain Laboratories.
The research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Compared to the spiked raw milk with virus floating freely used in the study, raw milk from cows infected with H5N1 influenza may have a different composition or contain virus inside of cells, which may impact heat effects, the researchers said.
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