The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), a US health agency, confirmed the presence of the bird flu virus in raw milk samples and fears that H5N1 could infect humans have increased, as this could unfortunately generate a new pandemic. . At the beginning of the year, the virus was identified in dairy cows for the first time.
Although American authorities carry out tests on samples of pasteurized milk normally sold in supermarkets, it is believed that the risk of the virus is only present in cases of raw milk consumption. So, once the milk goes through the pasteurization process, it can be safe for consumption.
The FDA itself says that the virus can be inactivated after the pasteurization process, which consists of heating the milk and then cooling it to specific temperatures. This process has been around for years and is commonly done to clean milk of possible bacteria and viruses that are dangerous to humans.
Even if the virus is detected in raw milk, pasteurization is expected to eliminate pathogens to a level that does not pose a health risk to the consumer.
Furthermore, the health agency also highlighted that, despite signs of bird flu in raw milk, the particles are not enough to cause the disease in a human being. For safety, milk that came from contaminated cattle should be discarded immediately.
