Bird flu virus has been detected in pasteurized cow’s milk in the United States. Last Tuesday, US authorities said they found traces of the virus in cow’s milk sampled during a study. This has created concern about the spread of this virus in the human body. However, experts say that the level of risk to humans is very small.
US authorities say there has been an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AIAI) or bird flu virus in livestock across the US. A human has also been infected through contact with infected livestock. His symptoms are mild.
Although the H5N1 strain of HPAI has killed millions of poultry, infected cows have not been shown to become seriously ill.
The US Food and Drug Administration said it detected the virus in milk from infected animals during a national survey. Such conditions were also observed during processing and at the end of processing.
A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) test was performed on pasteurized milk samples. It showed that the virus was inactivated by heat during the pasteurization process. Only remnants of the pathogen’s genetic material were detected in the sample.
