Siladitya Ray is a New Delhi-based Forbes news team reporter.
Updated Nov 25, 2024, 03:55am EST
Topline
California state health officials said the bird flu virus was detected in a batch of raw milk sold at retail stores across the state, prompting a voluntary recall, as authorities once again warned about the risks of consuming unpasteurized milk—a practice some social media influencers and right-wing figures, includingRobert F. Kennedy Jr., have promoted.
A bottle of raw milk from Raw Farm is displayed for sale at a store in Temecula, California.
Associated Press
Key Facts
The California Department of Public Healthsaidthe virus was detected in a batch of cream top, whole raw milk sold by Fresno-based dairy farm, Raw Farm—which has issued a voluntary recall at the state’s request.
The virus was detected in samples tested by the Santa Clara Public Health Laboratory, which collects and tests raw milk from retail shelves as a “second line of consumer protection,” the statement said.
No illnesses linked to the affected raw milk lot have been reported so far.
The agency urged people not to consume any of the affected milk and return any remaining product, while retailers have been informed to remove the affected batch from shelves.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture—which has conducted weekly tests of raw milk in bulk tanks after bird flu was detected in dairy cattle in the state—will now “begin testing for bird flu twice per week” at Raw Farm’s locations, the agency said.
What Are The Risks Of Drinking Raw Milk?
In its notice, the state health department highlighted the risks associated with consuming raw milk—which is milk that has not been pasteurized to kill bacteria and viruses. The agency said outbreaks of “Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin-producing E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter and many other bacteria,” have been linked to the consumption of raw dairy products. The agency noted that pasteurized milk and milk products are safe to consume. Pasteurization is asimple processof “heating milk to a high enough temperature for a certain length of time” to kill any dangerous pathogens.
Key Background
Several prominent online influencers—likeJoe Rogan—and right-wing figures have promoted the consumption of raw milk withdubious claimsabout its health benefits. Health and Human Services Secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also emerged as a prominent supporter of unpasteurized dairy and has even said heonly drinks raw milk. In apost on Xlast month, Kennedy threatened to fire FDA employees who he accused of waging a “war on public health.” Among his list of grievances was the agency’s supposed “aggressive suppression” of things like raw milk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, notes that pasteurized milk “offers the same nutritional benefits without the risks of raw milk consumption.” In its guidance for preventing a bird flu infection, the CDC mentions raw milk as a potential source, telling people to not “ touch or consume raw milk or raw milk products, especially from animals with confirmed or suspected avian influenza A virus infection.”
Big Number
55. That is the total number of H5 bird flu cases among people across the U.S., according to CDC data. However, there have been no reported cases of person-to-person spread so far.
Mark McAfee is a fifth generation farmer, owning and operating Raw Farm, the largest raw dairy operation in the world. He works to offer raw dairy products intended for human consumption, advocating for their non-allergenic, digestible, and probiotic properties. He is the Chairman of the Raw Milk Institute, founded in 2012, which seeks to improve the safety and quality of raw milk products. He is committed to promoting the health benefits of raw dairy products and maintaining sustainable farming practices, making him one of the foremost leaders in the field. Off the farm, he lectures on the gut biome benefits of raw milk at Stanford, University of Southern California, and medical schools in the United States, Australia, and Canada.
A California dairy that sells raw, unpasteurized milk is recalling some of it after tests found the avian influenza virus was present.
Dr. Keith Poulson with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory tells Brownfield it is odd to see what has been happening in California with higher raw milk demand during the past few months. “We’ve had stories out of Los Angeles that people’s demand for raw milk has really exploded because people think that if they drink it, they’re going to essentially vaccinate themselves by consuming the antibodies that are produced in that milk, and immunology really doesn’t work that way.”
Poulson says H5N1 is probably the least of his concerns with raw milk because there are other pathogens that are shed into milk. “It’s a public health risk and we really don’t want to see raw milk being consumed for multiple different reasons despite the claims for health and well being.”
Poulson says pasteurization makes fluid milk safe, and he says the aging process for certain raw milk artisan cheeses also kills pathogens that can affect human health.
Fresno County, California-based Raw Farm LLC issued a voluntary recall Sunday for Cream Top whole raw milk from lot No. 20241109 with a “best by” date of Nov. 27 because of the presence of the avian influenza virus. Customers can get refunds from their retailers.
One batch of raw milk from Fresno-based Raw Farm has been recalled voluntarily by the dairy after California state labs detected bird flu virus in the milk. Pasteurized milk is unaffected by the recall. | Credit: Courtesy California Department of Public Health
One batch of raw milk from California has tested positive for bird flu, a virus that hassickened herds of dairy cows across the nation, as well as a number of dairy workers. The manufacturer, Raw Farm LLC of Fresno County, voluntarily recalled a “cream top, whole raw milk” with lot code 20241109, expiration date November 27, 2024. While no illnesses have been reported, the California Department of Public Health advises purchasers to return the product to the store where it was purchased.
Raw milk from Raw Farm is sold by a number of Santa Barbara grocery stores. Several store employees told theIndependentthat Raw Farm had contacted them about a recall this Monday morning. The product has been taken off the shelves, they said.
The recall does not affect pasteurized milk as the heat of the pasteurization process kills bacteria and viruses, including the bird flu virus — H5N1 — that concerns medical officials. Raw milk products have caused outbreaks of illnesses in the past, fromSalmonella,Listeria, ande. Coli, for instance. However, advocates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services — believe raw milk contains more healthy enzymes, vitamins, and probiotics than the pasteurized version.
A virus borne by wild birds and waterfowl, H5N1 first affected U.S. poultry in 2021, then spread to dairy cows, likely through common watering holes. While the first human case was a poultry worker in 2022, the second this past March was a dairyman in Texas who reported eye redness, or conjunctivitis, that was traced to H5N1. This first report coming out of Texas also associated the virus with the death of barn cats, and the virus was detected in the milk of infected herds.
The virus is shed through bodily liquids, including milk, which has a thick, yellow consistency from cows that are ill. Any such milk was ordered destroyed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, but cows can carry the virus and not appear to be ill. While the virus has a high mortality rate in birds, only 10 percent of cows in an infected herd may show signs of illness, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. As of November 22, the CDC had counted 616 affected dairy herds in 15 states.
Thus far, 53 people working in poultry or dairy barns have reported an illness, generally mild, but two other infections are of unknown origin. What concerns health officials is that H5N1 might develop the ability to transmit from human to human. A recent case in California found a household sick with flu, withone child testing positive for H5N1. The rest of the family, however, only had regular respiratory viruses, not the avian variety, and the route of transmission to the child remains unknown.
Concern has existed that mild symptoms or a reluctance to report illness has downplayed the number of people infected, thought to occur from splashes during milking. So far, no person-to-person transmission of H5N1 has taken place. U.S. Health and Human Services stated in October that the department has been “preparing for avian influenza outbreak for 20 years,” and has emphasized community health, food safety, farmers, and mitigating risk to both animals and people. Physicians have emphasized that should an outbreak occur, vaccines against H5N1 already exist.
The virus has had a huge impact on the dairy industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has offered aid in the form of personal protection equipment, biosecurity improvements, reimbursement for veterinary costs, and compensation for losses. In the poultry industry, emergency funding was given for birds and eggs that had to be destroyed.
I Ran Operation Warp Speed. I’m Concerned About Bird Flu.
Credit...Steffanie A. Padilla
ByDavid A. Kessler
Dr. Kessler was commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations and was the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19.
As Donald Trump gets ready to return to the White House on Jan. 20, he must be prepared to tackle one issue immediately: the possibility that the spreading avian flu might mutate to enable human-to-human transmission.
I was the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19. I was co-leader of Operation Warp Speed, which began in Mr. Trump’s first term to accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines. I worked on the purchase and rollout of hundreds of millions of vaccines and on developing antiviral treatments. One of my jobs was to assess the trajectory of the virus.
Now I am back at my job teaching at the medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. I have been monitoring the spread of bird flu, also known as H5N1, and discussing the situation with colleagues around the country. My concern is growing.
So far, there have been no reports of person-to-person spread of H5N1, though there have been at least55 confirmed casesof bird flu in humans in the United States, almost entirely among poultry and dairy workers. Those infections are presumed to be primarily the result of contact with animals. In addition, a child in Alameda County in California with minor respiratory symptomstested positivefor H5N1 recently; it is unclear how the child became infected. There are likely other cases out there that are not being diagnosed.
All of those cases have been mild. But a teenager in British Columbia who was infected with the virus is now critically ill. In this instance, too, it is unclear how the teenager became infected. But the virus showed signs that it had mutated in a way that could make it easier to transmit to another person.
If this is the case, the virus might then get enough of a foothold to begin human-to-human transmission. Further mutations could evolve that would enhance attachment to human cells. Until the British Columbia case, the recent bird flu infections in humans in North America had been limited to the eyes and nasal passages. But H5N1 becomes deadly when the virus attaches to the lining of the lungs in the lower respiratory tract.
This virus has killed before. In 1997, an outbreak of H5N1 in poultry in Hong Kong resulted in 18 animal-to-human infections and six deaths, the first known fatal human infections. Then, in 2003, H5N1 appeared in wild birds in Asia. Outbreaks followed in poultry and resulted in two deaths in people. As outbreaks continued to occur, the mortality rate surpassed 50 percent.
Here is where matters stand: The most recentrisk assessmentfrom the Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation, issued on Nov. 19, listed the risk of infection to farm workers as high, and the risk of infection to people in contact with affected farm workers and animals as moderate. The Hopkins report said that “while the immediate risk to the general public and health care workers is still currently low, the long-term consequences of continued, uncontrolled transmissions presents a high risk to all populations.”
California has recently seen a significant rise in detections of H5N1 in dairy herds. Experts believe that animals at as many as half the dairy farms in California are infected. That is why it is important to pasteurize milk, which kills the virus. (All milk sold across state lines is pasteurized; 30 states allow the in-state sale of nonpasteurized milk, which is labeled “raw.”) Two states, Colorado and Pennsylvania, have agreed to test pooled milk from all farms before pasteurization to monitor spread. Bulk milk testing should be mandatory in all states with dairy farms to determine the full extent of the infection on these farms and also allow us to contain the virus. As if to underline the importance of such a mandate, bird flu wasdetectedin raw milk bought retail last Thursdayfrom a dairy producer based in Fresno, Calif.
Without mandatory testing, bird flu will continue circulating at farms across the country, which substantially increases the risk that the virus mutates and evolves to allow a human-to-human transmission that will be hard to stop.
H5N1 has already shown a propensity to rapidly infect hundreds of herds and farms in the United States. Since March, 616 dairy herds in 15 states have been infected with H5N1. And since the onset of the outbreak in February 2022, H5N1 has been detected in poultry in 49 states, affecting a total of 111 million birds.
There has also been an increase in H5N1 detections in migratory and commercial birds in the European Union, Canada, Japan and South Korea, compared to 2023.
What’s also worrisome is that our arsenal to fight back might not be up to the task.
An analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a mutation in people in Washington State who work as poultry cullers might reduce the effectiveness of oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu, in treating influenza A, a type of flu that includes H5N1 and many other subtypes. And a mutation found in a recent California case could potentially reduce the effectiveness of baloxavir marboxil, another drug used to treat influenza A.
In the case of monoclonal antibodies for use against the virus, there are none commercially available at present. These lab-produced antibodies are designed to mimic the body’s immune response and directly target the virus.
As for vaccines, there has been modest progress on candidates for mRNA vaccines, which stimulate the body’s own immune system against a specific virus. The candidates could offer more effective countermeasures in response to worrisome mutations. Importantly, the companies that increased production of the mRNA vaccines during Covid-19 are developing bird flu vaccines.
Fortunately, the country already has five million doses of the influenza A (H5) vaccine on hand and another five million doses will probably be ready by the end of the year. That is enough to cover the farmworker community. That vaccine is expected to have similar effectiveness to our seasonal flu vaccines, ranging from 30 percent to 70 percent.
No one knows how many mutations will be required to set off human-to- human respiratory spread. That could require many mutations and may never happen. But we could also be just two or three mutations away. If the virus begins to transmit efficiently among humans, it will be very difficult to contain, according to the Johns Hopkins assessment, and “the likelihood of a pandemic is very high.”
The incoming Trump administration needs to be prepared.
David A. Kessler, a physician and lawyer, was the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations and was the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19. He was also the dean of the medical schools at Yale and the University of California, San Francisco, where he is now a professor.
The Times is committed to publishinga diversity of lettersto the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are sometips. And here’s our email:letters@nytimes.com.
Several stores in LA County may have sold recalled raw milk, health officials say
Some of the stores include four Erewhon Markets, Eataly on Santa Monica Boulevard, and two Vitamin City locations.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024 12:07PM
The same suspect has stolen MacBook Pros from homes in Irvine and Lawndale as they were being delivered, apparently by using fake IDs.
LOS ANGELES (CNS) --The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is warning residents to avoid consuming voluntarily recalled raw milk due to a detection of H5 bird flu virus in a retail sample.
Many retailers in Los Angeles may have sold recalled raw milk that could be contaminated with the virus, the agency said.
No illnesses associated with this lot of raw milk have been reported in LA County, according to DPH.
TheRaw Farm LLC issued a voluntary recall, at the request of the state, of the affected cream top, whole raw milk with lot code 20241109 and "best by'' date of 11/27/2024 printed on the packaging. Customers should immediately return any remaining product to the retail point of purchase, DPH said.
According to DPH, some retailers where the product was sold in LA County include:
Back Door Bakery, 8349 Foothill Blvd., Sunland
Eataly, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles
Erewhon Market, 475 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena
Erewhon Market, 26767 Agoura Rd., Calabasas
Erewhon Market, 4121 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles
Erewhon Market, 7660 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles
Lazy Acres, 1841 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles
Vitamin City LB, 6247 E. Spring St., Long Beach
Vitamin City, 642 W. Arrow Hwy., San Dimas
The Whole Wheatery, 44264 10th St. W, Lancaster
DPH said additional retailers may be confirmed as the investigation continues.
Although no illnesses associated with this lot of raw milk have been reported in L.A. County, out of an abundance of caution, and due to the ongoing spread of H5 bird flu in dairy cows, poultry, and sporadic human cases, consumers should not consume any of the affected raw milk, the agency said.
DPH is also notifying retailers to remove the affected raw milk from their shelves. Health inspectors in L.A. County will be visiting retail establishments where this product was sold to ensure that it is no longer available for purchase, the agency said.
Recommended Posts
niman
Bird Flu Detected In Batch Of Raw Milk Sold In California
Topline
California state health officials said the bird flu virus was detected in a batch of raw milk sold at retail stores across the state, prompting a voluntary recall, as authorities once again warned about the risks of consuming unpasteurized milk—a practice some social media influencers and right-wing figures, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have promoted.
A bottle of raw milk from Raw Farm is displayed for sale at a store in Temecula, California.
Associated Press
Key Facts
The California Department of Public Health said the virus was detected in a batch of cream top, whole raw milk sold by Fresno-based dairy farm, Raw Farm—which has issued a voluntary recall at the state’s request.
The virus was detected in samples tested by the Santa Clara Public Health Laboratory, which collects and tests raw milk from retail shelves as a “second line of consumer protection,” the statement said.
No illnesses linked to the affected raw milk lot have been reported so far.
The agency urged people not to consume any of the affected milk and return any remaining product, while retailers have been informed to remove the affected batch from shelves.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture—which has conducted weekly tests of raw milk in bulk tanks after bird flu was detected in dairy cattle in the state—will now “begin testing for bird flu twice per week” at Raw Farm’s locations, the agency said.
What Are The Risks Of Drinking Raw Milk?
In its notice, the state health department highlighted the risks associated with consuming raw milk—which is milk that has not been pasteurized to kill bacteria and viruses. The agency said outbreaks of “Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin-producing E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter and many other bacteria,” have been linked to the consumption of raw dairy products. The agency noted that pasteurized milk and milk products are safe to consume. Pasteurization is a simple process of “heating milk to a high enough temperature for a certain length of time” to kill any dangerous pathogens.
Key Background
Several prominent online influencers—like Joe Rogan—and right-wing figures have promoted the consumption of raw milk with dubious claims about its health benefits. Health and Human Services Secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also emerged as a prominent supporter of unpasteurized dairy and has even said he only drinks raw milk. In a post on X last month, Kennedy threatened to fire FDA employees who he accused of waging a “war on public health.” Among his list of grievances was the agency’s supposed “aggressive suppression” of things like raw milk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, notes that pasteurized milk “offers the same nutritional benefits without the risks of raw milk consumption.” In its guidance for preventing a bird flu infection, the CDC mentions raw milk as a potential source, telling people to not “ touch or consume raw milk or raw milk products, especially from animals with confirmed or suspected avian influenza A virus infection.”
Big Number
55. That is the total number of H5 bird flu cases among people across the U.S., according to CDC data. However, there have been no reported cases of person-to-person spread so far.
Further Reading
How Raw Milk Went from a Whole Foods Staple to a Conservative Signal (Politico)
RFK Jr. says he drinks raw milk. How safe is unpasteurized milk? (Washington Post)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/11/25/bird-flu-detected-in-batch-of-raw-milk-sold-in-california/
niman
niman
Mark McAfee is a fifth generation farmer, owning and operating Raw Farm, the largest raw dairy operation in the world. He works to offer raw dairy products intended for human consumption, advocating for their non-allergenic, digestible, and probiotic properties. He is the Chairman of the Raw Milk Institute, founded in 2012, which seeks to improve the safety and quality of raw milk products. He is committed to promoting the health benefits of raw dairy products and maintaining sustainable farming practices, making him one of the foremost leaders in the field. Off the farm, he lectures on the gut biome benefits of raw milk at Stanford, University of Southern California, and medical schools in the United States, Australia, and Canada.
niman
Avian influenza virus found in California raw milk sample
By Larry Lee Filed Under: Dairy, Dairy, Food, Food safety, News
A California dairy that sells raw, unpasteurized milk is recalling some of it after tests found the avian influenza virus was present.
Dr. Keith Poulson with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory tells Brownfield it is odd to see what has been happening in California with higher raw milk demand during the past few months. “We’ve had stories out of Los Angeles that people’s demand for raw milk has really exploded because people think that if they drink it, they’re going to essentially vaccinate themselves by consuming the antibodies that are produced in that milk, and immunology really doesn’t work that way.”
Poulson says H5N1 is probably the least of his concerns with raw milk because there are other pathogens that are shed into milk. “It’s a public health risk and we really don’t want to see raw milk being consumed for multiple different reasons despite the claims for health and well being.”
Poulson says pasteurization makes fluid milk safe, and he says the aging process for certain raw milk artisan cheeses also kills pathogens that can affect human health.
Fresno County, California-based Raw Farm LLC issued a voluntary recall Sunday for Cream Top whole raw milk from lot No. 20241109 with a “best by” date of Nov. 27 because of the presence of the avian influenza virus. Customers can get refunds from their retailers.
https://www.brownfieldagnews.com/news/avian-influenza-virus-found-in-california-raw-milk-sample/
niman
Bird Flu Virus Contamination Pulls Raw Milk off Santa Barbara Shelves
No Known Illness Resulted from Raw Farm Milk Infected with H5N1 Virus
One batch of raw milk from Fresno-based Raw Farm has been recalled voluntarily by the dairy after California state labs detected bird flu virus in the milk. Pasteurized milk is unaffected by the recall. | Credit: Courtesy California Department of Public Health
One batch of raw milk from California has tested positive for bird flu, a virus that has sickened herds of dairy cows across the nation, as well as a number of dairy workers. The manufacturer, Raw Farm LLC of Fresno County, voluntarily recalled a “cream top, whole raw milk” with lot code 20241109, expiration date November 27, 2024. While no illnesses have been reported, the California Department of Public Health advises purchasers to return the product to the store where it was purchased.
Raw milk from Raw Farm is sold by a number of Santa Barbara grocery stores. Several store employees told the Independent that Raw Farm had contacted them about a recall this Monday morning. The product has been taken off the shelves, they said.
The recall does not affect pasteurized milk as the heat of the pasteurization process kills bacteria and viruses, including the bird flu virus — H5N1 — that concerns medical officials. Raw milk products have caused outbreaks of illnesses in the past, from Salmonella, Listeria, and e. Coli, for instance. However, advocates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services — believe raw milk contains more healthy enzymes, vitamins, and probiotics than the pasteurized version.
A virus borne by wild birds and waterfowl, H5N1 first affected U.S. poultry in 2021, then spread to dairy cows, likely through common watering holes. While the first human case was a poultry worker in 2022, the second this past March was a dairyman in Texas who reported eye redness, or conjunctivitis, that was traced to H5N1. This first report coming out of Texas also associated the virus with the death of barn cats, and the virus was detected in the milk of infected herds.
The virus is shed through bodily liquids, including milk, which has a thick, yellow consistency from cows that are ill. Any such milk was ordered destroyed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, but cows can carry the virus and not appear to be ill. While the virus has a high mortality rate in birds, only 10 percent of cows in an infected herd may show signs of illness, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. As of November 22, the CDC had counted 616 affected dairy herds in 15 states.
Thus far, 53 people working in poultry or dairy barns have reported an illness, generally mild, but two other infections are of unknown origin. What concerns health officials is that H5N1 might develop the ability to transmit from human to human. A recent case in California found a household sick with flu, with one child testing positive for H5N1. The rest of the family, however, only had regular respiratory viruses, not the avian variety, and the route of transmission to the child remains unknown.
Concern has existed that mild symptoms or a reluctance to report illness has downplayed the number of people infected, thought to occur from splashes during milking. So far, no person-to-person transmission of H5N1 has taken place. U.S. Health and Human Services stated in October that the department has been “preparing for avian influenza outbreak for 20 years,” and has emphasized community health, food safety, farmers, and mitigating risk to both animals and people. Physicians have emphasized that should an outbreak occur, vaccines against H5N1 already exist.
The virus has had a huge impact on the dairy industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has offered aid in the form of personal protection equipment, biosecurity improvements, reimbursement for veterinary costs, and compensation for losses. In the poultry industry, emergency funding was given for birds and eggs that had to be destroyed.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.com/2024/11/25/bird-flu-virus-contamination-pulls-raw-milk-off-santa-barbara-shelves/%3famp=1
niman
I Ran Operation Warp Speed. I’m Concerned About Bird Flu.
By David A. Kessler
Dr. Kessler was commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations and was the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19.
As Donald Trump gets ready to return to the White House on Jan. 20, he must be prepared to tackle one issue immediately: the possibility that the spreading avian flu might mutate to enable human-to-human transmission.
I was the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19. I was co-leader of Operation Warp Speed, which began in Mr. Trump’s first term to accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines. I worked on the purchase and rollout of hundreds of millions of vaccines and on developing antiviral treatments. One of my jobs was to assess the trajectory of the virus.
Now I am back at my job teaching at the medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. I have been monitoring the spread of bird flu, also known as H5N1, and discussing the situation with colleagues around the country. My concern is growing.
So far, there have been no reports of person-to-person spread of H5N1, though there have been at least 55 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans in the United States, almost entirely among poultry and dairy workers. Those infections are presumed to be primarily the result of contact with animals. In addition, a child in Alameda County in California with minor respiratory symptoms tested positive for H5N1 recently; it is unclear how the child became infected. There are likely other cases out there that are not being diagnosed.
All of those cases have been mild. But a teenager in British Columbia who was infected with the virus is now critically ill. In this instance, too, it is unclear how the teenager became infected. But the virus showed signs that it had mutated in a way that could make it easier to transmit to another person.
If this is the case, the virus might then get enough of a foothold to begin human-to-human transmission. Further mutations could evolve that would enhance attachment to human cells. Until the British Columbia case, the recent bird flu infections in humans in North America had been limited to the eyes and nasal passages. But H5N1 becomes deadly when the virus attaches to the lining of the lungs in the lower respiratory tract.
This virus has killed before. In 1997, an outbreak of H5N1 in poultry in Hong Kong resulted in 18 animal-to-human infections and six deaths, the first known fatal human infections. Then, in 2003, H5N1 appeared in wild birds in Asia. Outbreaks followed in poultry and resulted in two deaths in people. As outbreaks continued to occur, the mortality rate surpassed 50 percent.
Here is where matters stand: The most recent risk assessment from the Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation, issued on Nov. 19, listed the risk of infection to farm workers as high, and the risk of infection to people in contact with affected farm workers and animals as moderate. The Hopkins report said that “while the immediate risk to the general public and health care workers is still currently low, the long-term consequences of continued, uncontrolled transmissions presents a high risk to all populations.”
California has recently seen a significant rise in detections of H5N1 in dairy herds. Experts believe that animals at as many as half the dairy farms in California are infected. That is why it is important to pasteurize milk, which kills the virus. (All milk sold across state lines is pasteurized; 30 states allow the in-state sale of nonpasteurized milk, which is labeled “raw.”) Two states, Colorado and Pennsylvania, have agreed to test pooled milk from all farms before pasteurization to monitor spread. Bulk milk testing should be mandatory in all states with dairy farms to determine the full extent of the infection on these farms and also allow us to contain the virus. As if to underline the importance of such a mandate, bird flu was detected in raw milk bought retail last Thursday from a dairy producer based in Fresno, Calif.
Without mandatory testing, bird flu will continue circulating at farms across the country, which substantially increases the risk that the virus mutates and evolves to allow a human-to-human transmission that will be hard to stop.
H5N1 has already shown a propensity to rapidly infect hundreds of herds and farms in the United States. Since March, 616 dairy herds in 15 states have been infected with H5N1. And since the onset of the outbreak in February 2022, H5N1 has been detected in poultry in 49 states, affecting a total of 111 million birds.
There has also been an increase in H5N1 detections in migratory and commercial birds in the European Union, Canada, Japan and South Korea, compared to 2023.
What’s also worrisome is that our arsenal to fight back might not be up to the task.
An analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a mutation in people in Washington State who work as poultry cullers might reduce the effectiveness of oseltamivir, also known as Tamiflu, in treating influenza A, a type of flu that includes H5N1 and many other subtypes. And a mutation found in a recent California case could potentially reduce the effectiveness of baloxavir marboxil, another drug used to treat influenza A.
In the case of monoclonal antibodies for use against the virus, there are none commercially available at present. These lab-produced antibodies are designed to mimic the body’s immune response and directly target the virus.
As for vaccines, there has been modest progress on candidates for mRNA vaccines, which stimulate the body’s own immune system against a specific virus. The candidates could offer more effective countermeasures in response to worrisome mutations. Importantly, the companies that increased production of the mRNA vaccines during Covid-19 are developing bird flu vaccines.
Fortunately, the country already has five million doses of the influenza A (H5) vaccine on hand and another five million doses will probably be ready by the end of the year. That is enough to cover the farmworker community. That vaccine is expected to have similar effectiveness to our seasonal flu vaccines, ranging from 30 percent to 70 percent.
No one knows how many mutations will be required to set off human-to- human respiratory spread. That could require many mutations and may never happen. But we could also be just two or three mutations away. If the virus begins to transmit efficiently among humans, it will be very difficult to contain, according to the Johns Hopkins assessment, and “the likelihood of a pandemic is very high.”
The incoming Trump administration needs to be prepared.
David A. Kessler, a physician and lawyer, was the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations and was the Biden administration’s chief science officer during Covid-19. He was also the dean of the medical schools at Yale and the University of California, San Francisco, where he is now a professor.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.
Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, X and Threads.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/opinion/vaccine-bird-flu-pandemic.html
niman
Several stores in LA County may have sold recalled raw milk, health officials say
Some of the stores include four Erewhon Markets, Eataly on Santa Monica Boulevard, and two Vitamin City locations.
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is warning residents to avoid consuming voluntarily recalled raw milk due to a detection of H5 bird flu virus in a retail sample.
Many retailers in Los Angeles may have sold recalled raw milk that could be contaminated with the virus, the agency said.
No illnesses associated with this lot of raw milk have been reported in LA County, according to DPH.
The Raw Farm LLC issued a voluntary recall, at the request of the state, of the affected cream top, whole raw milk with lot code 20241109 and "best by'' date of 11/27/2024 printed on the packaging. Customers should immediately return any remaining product to the retail point of purchase, DPH said.
According to DPH, some retailers where the product was sold in LA County include:
DPH said additional retailers may be confirmed as the investigation continues.
Although no illnesses associated with this lot of raw milk have been reported in L.A. County, out of an abundance of caution, and due to the ongoing spread of H5 bird flu in dairy cows, poultry, and sporadic human cases, consumers should not consume any of the affected raw milk, the agency said.
DPH is also notifying retailers to remove the affected raw milk from their shelves. Health inspectors in L.A. County will be visiting retail establishments where this product was sold to ensure that it is no longer available for purchase, the agency said.
https://abc7.com/post/several-stores-los-angeles-county-may-have-sold-recalled-raw-milk-health-officials-say/15594910/
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