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Climate & Environment Bird flu virus detected in California raw milk Mark McAfee stands with his cows at sunrise at his raw milk dairy in Fresno in June(Tomas Ovalle / For The Times) By Susanne RustStaff Writer Nov 24, 2024 2:35 PM PT Share Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X LinkedIn Threads Reddit WhatsApp Copy Link URLCopied! Print State health officials said Sunday that bird flu virus was detected in a retail sample of raw milk from Fresno-based dairy Raw FarmThe sample was collected by officials with the Santa Clara County public health office, who have been testing raw milk products from retail stores “as a second line of consumer protection
”County officials identified the virus in “one sample of raw milk purchased at a retail outlet” on Nov 21, according to statements from both the state and the county The county contacted stores on Friday and recommended they pull the raw milk from sale The test results were confirmed on Saturday by the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System at UC Davis
“This isn’t surprising, given how quickly H5N1 seems to be spreading among farms in California and given the fact that these outbreaks on farms are being discovered in large part due to bulk testing of raw milk from farms,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University in Providence, RI “What we don’t know is how much risk H5N1 poses to people that drink unpasteurized, infected milk” Advertisement Climate & Environment Alameda County child believed to be latest case of bird flu; source unknown California health officials reported Tuesday that a child in Alameda County has been infected with bird flu; source unknown
Nov 22, 2024 The test was positive only for the “H5” part of the virus However, health officials say an H5 finding in a California dairy product is likely H5N1 No other H5 bird flu viruses have been detected in dairy cows
Raw Farm has issued a voluntary recall for all quart- and half-gallon-sized milk products produced on Nov 9, with an expiration date of Nov 27, with a lot ID of #20241109So far, there have been no reports of illness associated with this recall
“Out of an abundance of caution, and due to the ongoing spread of bird flu in dairy cows, poultry, and sporadic human cases, consumers should not consume any of the affected raw milk,” state health officials wrote in a statementNuzzo said evidence from animal studies suggests the virus “could pose a risk if ingested in large enough quantities, but we have not yet seen human cases resulting from raw milk consumption Given that ingestion of raw milk has no credible health benefits, I personally would avoid drinking it”Researchers have found that barn cats that drink raw milk tend to die as a result of their exposure
And laboratory studies have shown similar resultsLast week, the CDC reported samples taken from a child in Alameda County who was showing mild respiratory symptoms were positive for H5N1 It is unclear how the child was exposed to the virus, although investigators ruled out exposure to infected dairy or poultry animals They also ruled out raw milk
Advertisement Throughout California, 29 people have tested positive for the virus, and all but one — the child in Alameda County — are dairy workers Nationwide, the number is 55, with 32 exposed via dairy, 21 via poultry, and two with no known sourceIn addition, a teenager in British Columbia was also infected, and has remained in critical condition for more than two weeks The source of that child’s infection also remains unknown
There is no evidence of person-to-person transmission of the virus California Highly contagious whooping cough rises in California to highest level in years Whooping cough — highly contagious and potentially dangerous — has surged in California to levels not seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Nov 22, 2024 Since March, 402 California dairy herds have tested positive in the state; 616 herds have tested positive nationwide
Mark McAfee, the owner of Raw Farm, said that the testing he and the California Department of Food and Agriculture have conducted on his milk — since he started voluntary testing in late April — has all been negative“In the last two days CDFA has collected extra dairy samples from our farm bulk tanks and even retail samples and they are all officially Negative for HPAI,” he wrote in a statement HPAI is the acronym for highly pathogenic avian influenza; it is often used interchangeably with H5N1, as well as other highly pathogenic bird influenza strainsThe California Department of Public Health confirmed that the agriculture department had tested McAfee’s milk after receiving news of the finding, and results were negative
Advertisement Raw Farm is the largest producer and retailer of raw milk in the state, where the product is legally sold in retail stores McAfee said he has about 1,800 head of cattle on two dairies — one in Fresno, the other near HanfordThe US
Food and Drug Administration does not allow for the interstate transfer of raw milk for human consumption, and advises the public not to drink or consume raw milk products Officials say that pasteurization inactivates the virus Several states have recently changed laws to legalize raw milk products, including Iowa, Louisiana and Delaware — which all changed laws this spring allowing for wider consumer accessIn addition, President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for Health and Human Services, Robert F
Kennedy, Jr, is a vocal proponent of raw milk and has said he wants to increase people’s access to unpasteurized milk Science & Medicine Why RFK Jr nomination sets off alarms among many public health specialists The anti-vaccine activist could oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health
Nov 16, 2024 The Raw Farm recall notice requests that stores remove the product from shelves and urges consumers to return the product to the store from which it was purchased for a free replacement or refundMcAfee said it is unlikely any of the product remains on store shelves“It’s all gone,” he said
“We take back anything that doesn’t sell after seven days”The virus has shown up in wastewater sites across Santa Clara County, including Palo Alto, San Jose, Gilroy and Sunnyvale Advertisement It’s also been detected in 24 of the 28 California wastewater systems tested by WastewaterScan — an infectious disease monitoring network led by researchers at Stanford and Emory University, with lab testing partner Verily, Alphabet Inc’s life sciences organization
We are living in a “very highly charged time for raw milk,” McAfee said “It’s all over the news with RFK announcing he wants raw milk for everyone to improve the immunity and gut microbiome for America”“Our mission is to nourish our consumers with the highest quality raw milk and that is what we are doing,” he said, citing his testing protocol and history with the state’s agriculture department More to Read Did you buy raw milk at one of these stores? Another recall issued for tainted California milk Nov
27, 2024 Questions follow massive recall of California raw milk after bird flu testing Nov 27, 2024 Warning issued for contaminated raw milk sold in LA County stores Nov
26, 2024 Show Comments Climate & EnvironmentBreaking NewsAnimals & Pets Susanne Rust Follow Us X Instagram Email Facebook Susanne Rust is an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues She is based in the Bay Area More From the Los Angeles Times California Why Donald Trump still could not conquer Orange County Nov 28, 2024 California Walmart worker goes in for an extra shift and walks out a millionaire Nov
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Advertisement It’s also been detected in 24 of the 28 California wastewater systems tested by WastewaterScan — an infectious disease monitoring network led by researchers at Stanford and Emory University, with lab testing partner Verily, Alphabet Inc.’s life sciences organization.We are living in a “very highly charged time for raw milk,” McAfee said. “It’s all over the news with RFK announcing he wants raw milk for everyone to improve the immunity and gut microbiome for America.”“Our mission is to nourish our consumers with the highest quality raw milk and that is what we are doing,” he said, citing his testing protocol and history with the state’s agriculture department. More to Read Did you buy raw milk at one of these stores? Another recall issued for tainted California milk Nov. 27, 2024 Questions follow massive recall of California raw milk after bird flu testing Nov. 27, 2024 Warning issued for contaminated raw milk sold in L.A. County stores Nov. 26, 2024 Show Comments Climate & EnvironmentBreaking NewsAnimals & Pets Susanne Rust Follow Us X Instagram Email Facebook Susanne Rust is an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues. She is based in the Bay Area. More From the Los Angeles Times California Why Donald Trump still could not conquer Orange County Nov. 28, 2024 California Walmart worker goes in for an extra shift and walks out a millionaire Nov. 28, 2024 Climate & Environment Inglewood Oil Field owner sues California for ‘illegal’ terminating of operations Nov. 28, 2024 California L.A. County grad, reported dead by college after football injury, is on life support Nov. 27, 2024
