Officials in California say child may have become sick with bird flu from raw milk

County officials in California are urging the public to not consume unpasteurized, raw milk because it may have caused a bird flu infection in a child.

Marin County Public Health is reporting a suspected case of bird flu in a child who experienced fever and vomiting after drinking raw milk. The child has recovered, and no other family members became sick, indicating no person-to- person transmission, according to the health department.

There have been 32 confirmed cases of bird flu reported in California this year. Most bird flu detections in the U.S. have been in poultry and dairy workers who were exposed to sick animals, but the sick child did not have any of these exposures.

County officials are investigating the case with the help of the California Department of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Bird flu infections in humans are uncommon but there are ongoing outbreaks in dairy cattle and poultry farms in the United States,” said Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County’s Public Health Officer, “The risk to the public remains low, as bird flu spread from person to person is rare.”

Pasteurized milk remains safe to drink, according local, state and federal public health officials.

The county health department did not report what brand of raw milk the child consumed. However, Raw Farm LLC recently recalled two batches of its raw milk products after bird flu was detected in them.

The Raw Farm recalls were initiated in late November and early December. The most recent recall was for products that had a best-by date of Dec. 7. 

As with the testing that led to the dairy’s Nov. 24 recall, the Santa Clara County Public Health Laboratory tested raw milk products from retail stores in their county as a second line of consumer protection against H5N1, also referred to as bird flu. The county identified bird flu in the second sample of raw milk purchased at a retail outlet, the health department reported.

“Public health experts have long warned consumers against consuming raw milk or raw milk products due to elevated risks of foodborne illness. Outbreaks due to Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin producing E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter, and many other bacteria have all been reported related to consuming raw dairy products. Raw milk products are not pasteurized, a heating process that kills bacteria and viruses such as bird flu,” according to the health department’s warning.

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