Pasteurized milk includes remnants of H5N1 bird flu, U.S. officials say

girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to News@lemmy.world – 121 points –
cbc.ca

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.

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I think the most commonly used polio vaccine is administered orally

It was partially live, which was why they stopped using it in developed countries; the risk of developing polio after taking it is small but not nonexistent.

I thought the risk of developing polio wasn't to the person receiving the vaccine, but to other, unvaccinated people in an area with poor sanitation.

That’s also a concern, but about 1 in 2 million people who get the oral vaccine become paralyzed from it. It being a live vaccine instead of a an inactive one means there’s going to be those risks.

Thanks. I really appreciate the response, especially with the reference!

It is more common than you think. Unfortunately, a large part of global public health policy focuses on sacrificing the safety of the poor in order to protect the rich. So, we will continue to use the cheaper oral vaccines that paralyze children instead of developing the infrastructure to administer attenuated vaccines that we know are safe.

https://apnews.com/article/health-united-nations-ap-top-news-pakistan-international-news-7d8b0e32efd0480fbd12acf27729f6a5