Bird flu virus fragments detected in retail milk in US

Bird flu virus fragments have been detected in retail milk samples across the U.S., industry groups told lawmakers on Capitol Hill, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The FDA on Tuesday confirmed “some of the samples collected have indicated the presence” of bird flu “particles” under certain testing, but the agency maintained that “pasteurization is likely to inactivate the virus.” The FDA said it will make additional test results available in the coming days.

“To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the FDA said. Results from multiple studies will be made available in the next few days to weeks.”

Dairy trade groups quickly mobilized to reiterate FDA’s assessment that commercial milk is currently safe, following a report from The Washington Post on the viral detection.

The National Milk Producers Federation said in a statement that “viral fragments detected after pasteurization are nothing more than evidence that the virus is dead; they have zero impact on human health.”

NMPF also noted that current regulation “prohibits milk from sick cows from entering the food supply chain.”

Rick Bright, who led the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and raised alarm about the Trump administration’s early response to the Covid-19 pandemic, said he wants to see the results of the studies conducted.

"That's the data I'd like to know before I drink milk," Bright said.

As of Tuesday, bird flu has been detected in 33 dairy herds across eight states, according to the latest USDA data .

David Lim and Marcia Brown contributed to this report.