California Finds Bird Flu Virus in Raw Milk

Public health officials in California’s Silicon Valley said tests found the bird flu virus in a container of raw milk purchased at a local store and warned consumers on Sunday not to consume the milk. The supplier, Raw Farm, of Fresno County, issued a recall of the batch of milk that was involved.

No illnesses were reported. “Drinking or accidentally inhaling raw milk containing bird flu virus may lead to illness,” said the California Department of Public Health. “In addition, touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands after touching raw milk with bird flu virus may also lead to infection.”

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first case of avian influenza in a child in the United States, in Alameda County, in the East Bay region, which includes Berkeley and Oakland. The container of milk containing the bird flu virus was purchased in Santa Clara County, at the south end of the Bay, part of the high-tech region known as Silicon Valley. San Jose and Palo Alto are in Santa Clara County.

Some 59 human cases of bird flu have been confirmed in the country this year; 29 of them were in California. The child, whose name and age were withheld, was the only California case that did not involve a poultry or dairy worker with direct contact with infected animals.

“Contact tracing continues but there is currently no evidence of person-to-person spread of H5N1 bird flu from this child to others,” said the CDC. “To date, there has been no person-to-person spread identified associated with any of the H5N1 bird flu cases reported in the United States.”

The Santa Clara County public health laboratory found bird flu virus in a sample of “cream top, whole raw milk” purchased at retail. A state laboratory confirmed it. The recall targeted lot code 20241109 with a Best By date of 11/27/2024.

California agriculture officials said bird flu infections were found in 402 dairy herds as of Friday, an increase of 66 herds in three days. There are around 1,100 dairy herds in California, the No. 1 dairy state. “Several dairies are expected to have their quarantines released in the coming week as their farms have fully recovered. All quarantine released dairies will be placed on a surveillance list for weekly testing through creameries to maintain continued monitoring of the virus in California,” said the state Department of Food and Agriculture.