The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that samples of pasteurized milk have tested positive for remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows.

The agency stressed that the material is inactivated and that the findings “do not represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers.” Officials added that they’re continuing to study the issue.

“To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the FDA said in a statement on Tuesday.

The announcement comes nearly a month after an avian influenza virus that has sickened millions of wild and commercial birds in recent years was detected in dairy cows in at least eight states. The Agriculture Department (USDA) says 33 herds have been affected to date.

    • janNatan@lemmy.ml
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      6 months ago

      What I heard is “the cow farmers who said they weren’t milking sick cows are lying.” And “our workers are still touching these diseased cows to hook them up to the milking machines, which has already led to one human contracting the virus by rubbing his eyes.”

      Also, unfortunately, raw milk is still sold. It’s a very small margin, but it happens.

      • requiem@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Yes. I was wondering about the raw milk issue - if there is an upsurge of H5N1 in cows, possibly without farmers sometimes realising, other times fully knowing but ignoring it for whatever reason, then there will be a surge of H5N1 infections among those drinking unpasteurised milk.

      • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Not on the conservative side; but yes, there is on the crunchy, granola-mom woo woo crystals side.

        • alternative_factor@kbin.social
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          6 months ago

          Actually yes its 100% on the conservative side now too. I know this because I know an insane die-hard MAGA Christian nationalist who ONLY drinks raw milk, they see pasteurization as weakening their manhoods and virility and shit.

        • pantyhosewimp@lemmynsfw.com
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          6 months ago

          Ehhh, you might be fooled by external appearances because half the earth momma granola crowd is also the 14 kids home schooled Christian cult crowd.

          • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            There’s overlap there, but I’m talking about the Orange Beach yoga group, the 95% democratic-voting population group of anti-vaxers.

        • insomniac_lemon@kbin.social
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          6 months ago

          Not on the conservative side; but yes

          As someone with parents who talk about aliens, culture-war BS, and that the problem with Trump is that he isn’t antivax enough? I assure you you’re wrong. I mean they aren’t buying raw milk but they definitely picked up on the idea from the rightosphere, and have talked about it a few times too.


          I should be clear there is a background of “REGULATION BAD” here (government bad, corporation/money good). Also republican lawmakers changing laws on raw milk (and then getting sick after drinking it in celebration, cause not confirmed either way but the excuses are onion-esque particularly the lawmaker sick on his office couch)

          The woo woo isn’t owned by either side either, though I would say it may be more of a case of weak political alignment that may shift to better suit their agenda (this is the case for my parents who voted for Obama and now express their regret for that in relation to who they are now) and/or a change of views they now see as acceptable to publicly have.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I will never know how or why that woman went from MTV comedian who makes fart jokes in a bikini to definitely scientifically trained medical expert within a few short years.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            So did my wife, but she stayed in her lane as a librarian because that’s what she’s an expert at. If Jenny McCarthy wanted to talk about how to make children laugh by making fart jokes while wearing a bikini and, for some reason people let her talk about that on TV, it would at least kind of make sense a little?

            • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              Agreed. It would’ve benefited the world had she followed Hardwick over to The Talking Dead instead of writing mom books. Just as long as she didn’t touch The Nerdist.

    • Voiden44 @lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Maybe these morons will do something good for once and drop milk prices for the rest of us

  • RainfallSonata@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I didn’t get an answer when this was posted this morning: If you drink it, are you vaccinated against it? Serious question.

    • qantravon@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Not likely. Your stomach acid probably destroys what’s left of the virus before it enters the bloodstream, meaning there’s nothing for your immune system to train against. There’s a reason we don’t drink vaccines.

    • girlfreddyOP
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      6 months ago

      And the partial remnants of the virus are inactive, meaning they can’t affect people in any way, shape or form.

      The agency stressed that the material is inactivated and that the findings “do not represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers.” Officials added that they’re continuing to study the issue.

      • Buelldozer@lemmy.today
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        6 months ago

        And the partial remnants of the virus are inactive, meaning they can’t affect people in any way, shape or form.

        The warning, unspoken, was to the idiots drinking Raw Milk. I give it less than 90 days before one of them dies from H5N1.