With So Much Bird Flu Around, Are Eggs, Chicken, and Milk Still Safe to Consume?

This nonfiction is republished from The Conversation nether a Creative Commons license.

Recent outbreaks of vertebrate flu—in US dairy herds, poultry farms successful Australia, and elsewhere, and isolated cases in humans—have raised the contented of nutrient safety.

So tin the microorganism transportation from infected workplace animals to contaminate milk, meat, oregon eggs? How apt is this? And what bash we request to deliberation astir to minimize our hazard erstwhile buying for oregon preparing food?

How Safe Is Milk?

Bird flu (or avian influenza) is simply a vertebrate illness caused by circumstantial types of influenza virus. But the microorganism tin besides infect cows. In the US, to date, much than 80 dairy herds successful astatine slightest 9 states person been infected with the H5N1 mentation of the virus.

Investigations are under way to corroborate however this happened. But we bash cognize that infected birds tin shed the microorganism successful their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. So vertebrate flu tin perchance contaminate animal-derived nutrient products during processing and manufacturing.

Indeed, fragments of vertebrate flu familial worldly (RNA) were recovered successful cow’s milk from the dairy herds associated with infected US farmers.

However, the dispersed of vertebrate flu among cattle, and perchance to humans, is apt to person been caused done interaction with contaminated milking equipment, not the beverage itself.

The trial utilized to observe the microorganism successful milk—which uses PCR exertion akin to lab-based Covid tests—is besides highly sensitive. This means it tin observe precise debased levels of the vertebrate flu RNA. But the trial does not separate betwixt unrecorded oregon inactivated virus, conscionable that the RNA is present. So from this trial alone, we cannot archer if the microorganism recovered successful beverage is infectious (and susceptible of infecting humans).

Does that mean beverage is harmless to portion and won’t transmit vertebrate flu? Yes and no.

In Australia, wherever vertebrate flu has not been reported successful dairy cattle, the reply is yes. It is harmless to portion beverage and beverage products made from Australian milk. In the US, the reply depends connected whether the beverage is pasteurized. We cognize pasteurization is simply a communal and reliable method of destroying concerning microbes, including influenza virus. Like astir viruses, influenza microorganism (including vertebrate flu virus) is inactivated by heat.

Although determination is small nonstop probe connected whether pasteurization inactivates H5N1 successful milk, we tin extrapolate from what we cognize astir vigor inactivation of H5N1 successful chicken and eggs. So we tin beryllium assured determination is nary hazard of vertebrate flu transmission via pasteurized beverage oregon beverage products.

However, it’s different substance for unpasteurized oregon “raw” US beverage oregon beverage products. A caller study showed that mice fed earthy beverage contaminated with vertebrate flu developed signs of illness. So to beryllium connected the harmless side, it would beryllium advisable to debar earthy beverage products.

How About Chicken?

Bird flu has caused sporadic outbreaks successful chaotic birds and home poultry worldwide, including in Australia. In caller weeks, determination person been three reported outbreaks successful Victorian poultry farms (two with H7N3 vertebrate flu, 1 with H7N9). There has been one reported outbreak successful Western Australia (H9N2).

The strains of vertebrate flu identified successful the Victorian and Western Australia outbreaks tin origin quality infection, though these are rare and typically effect from adjacent interaction with infected unrecorded birds oregon contaminated environments. Therefore, the accidental of vertebrate flu transmission successful chickenhearted nutrient is remote.