DOES PASTEURIZATION KILL BIRD FLU?
Scientists say there’s no evidence to suggest that people can contract the virus by consuming food that’s been pasteurized, or heat-treated — or properly cooked.
“It’s not a food safety concern,” said Lee-Ann Jaykus, an emeritus food microbiologist and virologist at North Carolina State University.
Two people in US have been infected with bird flu to date. A Texas dairy worker who was in close contact with an infected cow recently developed a mild eye infection and has recovered. In 2022, a prison inmate in a work program caught it while killing infected birds at a Colorado poultry farm. His only symptom was fatigue, and he recovered.
IS GROCERY STORE MILK SAFE FROM BIRD FLU?
Yes, according to food safety experts and government officials.
US producers are barred from selling milk from sick cows and must divert and destroy it. In addition, milk sold across state lines is required to be pasteurized, or heat-treated using a process that kills bacteria and viruses, including influenza.
“We firmly believe that pasteurization provides a safe milk supply,” Tracey Forfa, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine told a webinar audience this week.
IS RAW MILK SAFE FROM BIRD FLU?
The FDA and the CDC are less certain about unpasteurized, or raw, milk sold in many states, saying there’s limited information about the possible transmission of the H5N1 virus in such products.
So far, no herds linked to raw milk providers have reported cows infected with bird flu, but the agencies recommend that the industry not make or sell raw milk or raw milk cheese products made with milk from cows that show symptoms — or are exposed to infected cows.
US health officials have long warned against the risk of foodborne illness tied to raw milk, which the CDC said caused more than 200 outbreaks that sickened more than 2,600 people between 1998 and 2018.
Still, raw milk proponents like Mark McAfee, owner of Raw Farm USA in Fresno, Calif., said the outbreak of H5N1 in commercial cows appears to have spurred higher sales of the products, despite federal warnings.
CAN YOU CATCH BIRD FLU FROM EGGS OR MEAT?
Only dairy cows, not beef cattle, have been infected or shown signs of illness to date, agriculture officials said.
The largest egg producer in the US temporarily halted operations on April 2 after finding bird flu in its chickens. Cal-Maine Foods culled about 1.6 million laying hens and another 337,000 pullets, or young hens, after the detection.
The company said there was no risk to eggs in the market and that no eggs had been recalled.
Eggs that are handled properly and cooked thoroughly are safe to eat, said Barbara Kowalcyk, director of the Center for Food Safety and Nutrition Security at George Washington University.
“A lot of people like runny eggs. Personally, if I eat an egg, it’s very well cooked,” she said.
Still, Kowalcyk and others cautioned that the situation could change.
“This is an emerging issue and clearly this pathogen is evolving and there’s a lot that we don’t know,” she said. “I do think that everybody is trying to figure it out as quickly as possible.”
