H5N1 Avian Influenza

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This community is for discussion of the global H5N1 avian flu outbreak which began in 2021. Please keep posts factual and science-based!

Posts may be removed if they are from a disreputable source, fear-monger, or promote conspiracy theories.

Further reading:

United States (CDC): H5N1 Situation Report

Europe (ECDC): Avian Influenza

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1 in 5 US retail milk samples test positive for H5N1 avian flu fragments (www.cidrap.umn.edu)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A senior official from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today that its nationwide survey of retail milk has found remnants of H5N1 avian flu viruses in one in five samples, with the highest concentrations in regions where outbreaks in dairy cattle have been reported.

Donald Prater, DVM, acting director of the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), shared the new findings with state health officials who took part in a scientific symposium on H5N1 hosted by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). The results come in the wake of earlier findings this week from more limited FDA sampling, along with similar findings from a smaller set of samples tested by a lab that's part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) Network.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Prater reiterated that the FDA hasn't changed its assessment that the nation's milk supply remains safe. So far, early work on milk samples that were positive for H5N1 fragments haven't found any viable (potentially infectious) virus.

He said, however, that the FDA still has a long list of data gaps to fill, including identifying the risk of infection to humans via oral consumption and validating that existing pasteurization methods can inactivate H5N1.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

Got it. Its safe not safe.

[–] KISSmyOSFeddit 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

"We found the virus in the milk, we don't know if pasteurization kills it, and we don't know the infection risk from oral consumption.

But it's definitely safe to drink the milk!"