Raw milk contaminated with bird-flu virus damaging multiple organs of mice: study

In the latest study, published on Friday (May 24), itwas foundthat unpasteurised milk - contaminated with bird-flu virus H5N1 - if fed to the mice,will make them sick and damage their organs.

The studywas conductedin the wake of the bird flu virus detected in the dairy herds of nine states in the United States.

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A new study has added more evidence to the argument that virus-infected raw milk maynot be safefor mammals, especially humans.

VirologistYoshihiro Kawaoka said,“Don’tdrink raw milk —that’sthe message."Kawaokaworksat the University of Wisconsin, Madison and was head of the study. In the United States, most of the commercial milkis pasteurised.

Food and Drug Administration has foundtraces of the virusin 20 per centof dairy productssampledfrom grocery shelves across the country.

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However, no signs of infectious virushave been foundby the officials in those samplesandhave said that it is safe to consume pasteurised milk.

While speaking to The New York Times, Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases Director Dr Nahid Bhadelia saidthat thefindings will have global implications.

“If this becomes a more widespread outbreak in cows, there are other places where thereisn’tcentral pasteurisationandthere are a lot more rural communities that drink milk,"she added.

How the studywas carried out?

While carrying out the study, Dr Kawaoka and his colleagues looked for viruses in the milk sampleswhichwerecollectedfrom an affected dairy herd in New Mexico.

The researchers discovered that there was a slow decline in thelevels of the virusin a sample of milkwhichwas stored at 4 degrees Celsius and hinted at the chances of H5N1 being present in refrigerated raw milk for several weeks.

The findings from the studywere publishedin the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Meanwhile, the mice who drank the contaminated milk became ill and had ruffled fur and lethargy.

Bird flu virusalsodiscovered in an ill dairycow'sbeef

The US Department of Agriculture on Friday (May 24) said that bird fluwas foundin beef for the first time.

However, the officials said that a single sickened dairycow'smeat did not have permission to enter thefood supply of the countryand hence, beef was safe to eat.

TheUSDA saidthat they found the virus while testing 96 dairy cows,who werediverted from the supply after federal inspectors saw signs of illness while carrying out routine inspections of carcasses present at meat processing plants.

(With inputs from agencies)