BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 25: Containers of raw farm milk are displayed on a shelf … [+]
Many people are drawn to drinking raw or unpasteurized milk because they think that because it is “natural,” it has health benefits over pasteurized products. Most are probably unaware of the many dangers that drinking raw milk can expose you to.
Pasteurization sterilizes the milk by heating it to 161 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds. The United States Department of Agriculture has conducted tests to verify that the brief heating inactivated the virus. That is the standard in Europe Ultra-high temperature, heating up to 280 degrees Fahrenheit seconds. When traveling, keep in mind that many dairy products abroad can not have been pasteurized.
A California toddler was believed to have been infected with bird flu after drinking raw milk. The child developed a fever and vomited. A throat swab test was reportedly positive for the influenza A virus. It was sent to the state public health laboratory and to the CDC for confirmation. These reference laboratories could not confirm the suspected diagnosis. Lisa Santora, Marin County’s public health officer, told Stat News that the negative test was possible because the amount of virus in the original test sample was low and that samples can deteriorate over time. The province still considers the toddler’s infection a suspected case of bird flu.
The child’s milk came from Raw Milk LLC., in Fresno, Ca. One sample of raw milk from that company was found to contain bird flu last month, and the company issued a statement voluntary memory for batches of milk produced between November 9 and 27. The CDPH also found that the virus contaminated bulk milk and bottled product storage at Raw Farm’s bottling plant. The company has been going ever since quarantined and suspended from new distribution of raw milk and cheeseand other dairy products.
Mark McAfee is the CEO of Raw Farm, the largest producer of raw milk nationally. Raw Farm has previously had problems with illnesses from contaminated milk. Most recently, twenty-two people were hospitalized and 171 became ill of Salmonella. In 2011, three children were hospitalized with hemolytic-uremic syndromean infectious cause of renal failure.
Since 1987, the FDA has not allowed the interstate sale of raw dairy products, deeming it too dangerous. Between 1998 and 2018 “202 outbreaks (0.9%) and 2645 diseases (0.6%) were linked to unpasteurized milk, including 228 hospitalizations and three deaths.”
McAfee stated that he was asked by the transition team to apply for a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory position for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been nominated by President-elect Trump to be his Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The California Department of Public Health has reported 29 confirmed cases of bird flu in humans since October. All but one had contact with dairy cows. California leads the way in infected cattle. Been there 617 cases in California alonewith 338 cases in the past month, and 58 newly infected herds.
Numerous infections have been linked to drinking raw milk, including Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin-producing E. coli, Brucella, Q fever (Coxiella), Yersinia and Campylobacter. We are not as concerned about the public health impact of these bacteria because person-to-person transmission is limited to a fecal-oral route. This means that someone had a small amount of fecal matter on their hands and contaminated someone else’s hands or a surface they ate from. That, or eating contaminated food directly, is how most of the above bacteria are spread. Listeria can be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Brucella can have that too aerosol transmission.
Protection against bird flu
Guillemain Matthieu, technician of the French National Agency for Hunting and Wildlife, leaves a … [+]
But bird flu is much riskier. Bird flu can be transmitted by fomissions (contaminated surfaces), droplets and aerosols. The CDC notes that the virus can gets into someone’s eyes, nose or mouth, or is inhaled. Even hunters are advised to wear gloves, an N95 respirator and eye protection when dressing birds.
The following applies to exposures in healthcare The California Department of Health advises“If a patient with suspected or confirmed H5N1 influenza infection presents to a healthcare setting, healthcare providers should:
• Immediately mask the patient and place him in an airborne infection isolation room (AIIR) with the door closed. During an AIIR, the patient’s mask can be removed. (If an AIIR is not available, place the patient in a single room with the door closed and allow the patient to remain masked.)
• Use personal protective equipment that includes the following:
o Respiratory protection (fit-tested N95 mask or higher protection level)
o Eye protection (goggles or face shield)
o Dress and gloves”
Not only people are at risk from raw milk. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is investigating the deaths of two cats due to H5N1 after drinking raw milk associated with the recalled batches of Raw Farm, LLC. The LADPH is so concerned that they have even offered antiviral prophylaxis to those who come into contact with the cats.
Even Fox News Senior Medical Analyst Dr. Mark Siegel spoke about the dangers of unpasteurized milk and urged people not to drink it.
RFK Jr is an avid supporter of raw milk and believes it provides additional nutritional benefits. That would have been less problematic if the infections you could get from raw milk were likely limited to yourself or to a limited number of people who had ingested contaminated food. (Although most people who become ill from Salmonella recover, it can be fatal. Such food poisoning from Salmonella with another strain, which caused typhoid fever, caused the death of my grandmother and her young child.) But it’s a completely different concern if you talk about airborne transmission and pandemic potential if the virus mutates. Is it RFK Jr’s responsibility to be so vocal now, or should he be more cautious given the wider concerns about a looming pandemic?