Pasteurization working to kill bird flu in milk, early FDA results find

Preliminary results of tests tally by the Food and Drug Administration amusement that pasteurization is moving to termination disconnected vertebrate flu successful milk, the bureau said Friday. 

"This further investigating did not observe immoderate live, infectious virus. These results reaffirm our appraisal that the commercialized beverage proviso is safe," the FDA said successful a statement.

The FDA's findings travel aft the bureau disclosed that astir 1 successful 5 samples of retail beverage it had surveyed from astir the state had tested affirmative for highly pathogenic avian influenza, oregon HPAI H5N1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week besides ordered investigating requirements connected cows successful effect to the outbreak, which has affected increasing numbers of poultry and dairy cows. 

Positive alleged PCR tests successful beverage tin hap arsenic the effect of harmless fragments of the microorganism near implicit aft pasteurization, officials and experts person said, prompting the further experiments to verify whether oregon not the microorganism recovered successful the beverage was infectious. Those tests recovered it was not.

"The FDA is further assessing retail samples from its survey of 297 samples of retail dairy products from 38 states. All samples with a PCR affirmative effect are going done ovum inoculation tests, a gold-standard for determining if infectious microorganism is present," the bureau said.

While wellness authorities person said that beverage from visibly sick cows is being discarded earlier entering the proviso chain, officials person acknowledged the anticipation that cows could beryllium spreading the microorganism successful their earthy beverage without symptoms oregon aft they person different appeared to recover.

The FDA said it had besides tested respective samples of retail powdered babe look and toddler formula, which the bureau said were each antagonistic for the virus. 

It is unclear what different foods the FDA has tested. An bureau spokesperson did not reply questions astir whether dairy products similar cream, which tin beryllium pasteurized differently, person besides been surveyed.

No beef cattle person been detected with the virus, the USDA has said, though it remains unclear whether the section has surveyed retail beef products for the virus.

So far, only 1 quality infection has been reported this year, successful a idiosyncratic who had interaction with dairy cattle successful Texas.

Though increasing grounds is present confirming the information of pasteurized milk, an further situation besides remains for wellness authorities arsenic they grapple with the anticipation that dairy manufacture workers could beryllium unknowingly exposed to the virus. 

Unlike poultry, which rapidly dice disconnected oregon are culled aft H5N1 infections, cows mostly spell connected to retrieve aft a period oregon two.

Other animals person besides not fared arsenic good during the outbreak: the USDA said Friday that deaths and neurological illness had been "widely reported" successful cats astir dairy farms. Officials person said they fishy cats had been drinking leftover earthy beverage from infected cows.

"We cognize that the unwellness successful cattle tin spell connected for respective weeks. So that puts workers astatine an ongoing risk. And thus, the play for monitoring volition beryllium longer," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Sonja Olsen told reporters this week. 

In:
• Bird Flu
• Food and Drug Administration
• Avian Influenza