A 2019 official survey found that 4.4% of adults said they had consumed raw milk in the past year.
Washington:
Rats fed raw cow’s milk infected with bird flu had high levels of the virus in their lungs, according to a study published Friday that suggests a risk to humans who consume the drink.
In recent years, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus called HPAI H5N1 has spread and infected more than 50 animal species, including, since March, dairy cattle in the United States.
To date, 52 herds across the country have been affected, with two human infections involving farm workers who developed mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis.
In the new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas A&M fed drops of raw milk from infected cattle to five rats.
The rodents developed signs of illness, including lethargy, and were euthanized four days later to study their organs.
The researchers found high levels of virus in the nasal passages, trachea and lungs, and moderate to low levels of virus in other organs.
“An important consideration is that the consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk is becoming increasingly popular,” said Rowland Kao, professor of veterinary epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in the research.
Raw milk laws vary by state in the US, with some allowing it to be sold in retail stores, others only allowing it to be sold on the farm where it was produced, and still others banning it completely.
A 2019 official survey found that 4.4% of adults said they had consumed raw milk in the past year. These consumers tended to be younger and lived in rural areas.
“Although this study shows that mice can become systemically infected due to ingestion of infected milk, this does not prove that the same is true for humans, although it raises the possibility,” Kao added.
In addition to testing on mice, research has confirmed that heating raw milk to high temperatures destroys almost all viruses after a few seconds and completely destroys the pathogen after several minutes.
A recent national survey of pasteurized milk found that all samples were negative for viable viruses, although inactivated viruses, which are no longer able to spread or infect a host, were found in about 20% of retail samples.
Finally, the researchers tested the effect of storing infected raw milk at refrigerator temperatures and found that virus levels decreased only slightly after five weeks, indicating that refrigeration alone is not enough to make raw milk safe.
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