(TrueTrendNews.com) – As some concern about an outbreak of the bird flu has been circulating in recent months, federal health officials have announced that retail dairy products tested negative for the disease.
In a news conference on Wednesday May 1, officials informed the public that the process of pasteurization has proven to be an effective barrier between retail dairy products and human infection. Per testing results of such products, there is limited risk of consuming pasteurized dairy as there were no positive results of the live virus.
However, the risk posed by cattle is not as clear as the one posed by pasteurized dairy. Herds of live dairy are not regularly screened for the active virus. So far, only one human has tested positive during the 2024 outbreak. That case—which was contracted by a dairy worker at a farm in Texas—was not severe and occurred when he was in contact with infected cows.
Bird flu is most frequently found in poultry and wild birds but occasionally infects mammals. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reports on March 25, 2024, of the outbreak in dairy cows was the first time the virus was detected in cattle. Additionally, the positive case of the dairy worker in Texas is thought to be the first case of mammal to human transmission.
The update from federal health officials comes a week after Michigan reported an outbreak of the bird flu at a poultry facility and a separate outbreak of the virus at a Texas-based egg producer. Human risk is still a low probability, but concern has risen especially with reports of outbreaks among major egg producers in America.
However, some experts have expressed concern that there are far more infections than are being caught, especially among employees at farms. Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory director, Dr. Keith Poulsen, suggested that there could be positive cases among workers who are not mandated to be tested by their employers.
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