Additional Testing Of Retail Dairy Products Shows Pasteurization Preventing Spread Of Bird Flu

The New York Times (5/1, Weiland, Qiu) reports officials announced on Wednesday that “additional testing of retail dairy products from across the country has turned up no signs of live bird flu virus, strengthening the consensus that pasteurization is protecting consumers from the threat.” However, while scientists “have not found evidence of potentially infectious virus,” the Times says that “the scope of the bird flu outbreak in cattle remains unclear, as dairy herds are not routinely tested for the infection.” The USDA indicated that “as of Wednesday, the outbreak had spread to 36 herds in nine states,” and “just one human infection, which was mild, has been reported.” However, experts “fear there may be many more undetected infections, particularly among farm workers.” STAT (5/1, Molteni, Subscription Publication) reports the FDA last week “announced it had conducted PCR testing in 96 commercially purchased milk products and found genetic traces of the H5N1 virus in one in five samples, but that early data showed no live virus. On Wednesday, the agency reported results from testing of a further 201 products, which included cottage cheese and sour cream, in addition to milk.”