AdminPublic health officials said Sunday that the bird flu virus was found in a retail sample of raw milk from the Fresno-based Raw Farm dairy.
The sample was collected by officials from the Santa Clara County Public Health Office, who tested raw milk products from stores “as a second line of consumer protection.”
County officials identified the virus on Nov. 21 in “one sample of raw milk purchased from a retail store,” according to statements from both the state and county. The province contacted the stores on Friday and advised them to remove the raw milk from sale. The test results were confirmed Saturday by UC Davis’ California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System.
“This is not surprising given how quickly H5N1 appears to be spreading among California farms and given that these farm outbreaks are being detected in large part as a result of bulk testing of raw milk from farms,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University in Providence, RI “What we don’t know is how much risk H5N1 poses to people who drink unpasteurized, infected milk.”
Read more: Alameda County child believed to be the last case of bird flu; source unknown
The test was only positive for the ‘H5’ part of the virus. However, health officials say an H5 finding in a California dairy product is likely H5N1. No other H5 bird flu viruses have been found in dairy cows.
Raw Farm has issued a voluntary recall for all one-gallon and half-gallon milk products produced on November 9, with an expiration date of November 27, with Lot ID No. 20241109.
To date, there have been no reports of illness related to this recall.
“Out of an abundance of caution and due to the continued spread of avian flu in dairy cows, poultry and sporadic human cases, consumers should not consume any affected raw milk,” state health officials wrote in a statement.
Nuzzo said animal studies show the virus “could pose a risk if ingested in large enough quantities, but we have not yet seen any human cases resulting from the consumption of raw milk.” Considering that raw milk intake has no credible health benefits, I personally would. avoid drinking it.”
Researchers have found that barn cats who drink raw milk tend to die as a result of their exposure. And laboratory studies have shown similar results.
Last week, the CDC reported that samples taken from a child in Alameda County who showed mild respiratory symptoms were positive for H5N1. It is unclear how the child was exposed to the virus, although researchers ruled out exposure to infected dairy or poultry animals. They also excluded raw milk.
Across California, 29 people have tested positive for the virus, and all but one are dairy workers. Nationally the number is 55, of which 32 via dairy, 21 via poultry and two without a known source.
In addition, a teenager in British Columbia was also infected and has been in critical condition for more than two weeks. The source of that child’s infection also remains unknown.
There is no evidence that the virus is transmitted from person to person.
Read more: Highly contagious whooping cough is rising to its highest level in years in California
Since March, 402 California dairy farms have tested positive in the state; 616 herds have tested positive nationally.
Mark McAfee, the owner of Raw Farm, said the tests he and the California Department of Food and Agriculture have conducted on his milk — since he began voluntary testing in late April — have all been negative.
“Over the past two days, CDFA has collected additional dairy samples from our bulk tanks at the farm and even from retail outlets and all are officially negative for HPAI,” he wrote in a statement. HPAI is the abbreviation for Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu; it is often used interchangeably with H5N1, as well as other highly pathogenic avian influenza strains.
The California Department of Public Health confirmed that the Agriculture Department tested McAfee’s milk after receiving news of the finding, and that the results were negative.
Raw Farm is the largest producer and retailer of raw milk in the state, where the product is legally sold in stores. McAfee said he has about 1,800 head of cattle on two dairy farms: one in Fresno and the other near Hanford.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not allow the interstate transfer of raw milk for human consumption and advises the public not to drink or consume raw milk products. Officials say pasteurization inactivates the virus.
Several states have recently changed laws to legalize raw milk products, including Iowa, Louisiana and Delaware — all of which changed laws this spring, allowing broader access for consumers.
In addition, President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services President-elect Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is an outspoken advocate of raw milk and has said he wants to increase people’s access to unpasteurized milk.
Read more: Why RFK Jr.’s nomination raises alarms among many public health specialists
The Raw Farm recall asks stores to remove the product from their shelves and urges consumers to return the product to the store where it was purchased for a free replacement or refund.
McAfee said it is unlikely any of the product will remain on store shelves.
“It’s all gone,” he said. “We will take back anything that has not been sold after seven days.”
The virus has emerged at wastewater sites in Santa Clara County, including Palo Alto, San Jose, Gilroy and Sunnyvale.
It has also been detected in 24 of 28 California wastewater systems tested by WastewaterScan – an infectious disease monitoring network led by researchers at Stanford, Emory University, with laboratory testing partner Verily, Alphabet Inc.’s life sciences organization.
We live in a “very fraught time for raw milk,” McAfee said. “It’s all over the news as RFK announces he wants raw milk for everyone to improve immunity and the gut microbiome for America.”
“Our mission is to feed our consumers with the highest quality raw milk and that is what we do,” he said, citing his testing protocol and history with the state Agriculture Department.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
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