Officials are warning against drinking raw milk after a child in northern California was suspected to have gotten bird flu from the drink.
The youngster – who has not been named – began vomiting and developed a fever before going to the hospital for treatment, according to Marin County Public Health.
The child was sent to the emergency room where they tested positive for an influenza A virus and officials suspect he had the H5N1 strain that is currently tearing through dairy farms across California.
The unnamed child has made a full recovery, and did not pass the virus onto anyone else in their family.
As they wait for additional tests, MCPH warns that doctors should be looking out for symptoms of the virus in people who drink raw milk.
Fears about the potential spread of bird flu prompted health authorities last week to order mandatory testing of the nation’s raw milk supply. Seema Lakdawala a influenza researcher at Emory University, told Science: ‘If H5 is ever going to be a pandemic, it’s going to be now’.
At least 4.4 percent of Americans (nearly 11 million people) try raw milk each year and one of its most famous advocates, Robert F Kennedy Jr., has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be secretary of Health and Human Services.
Normally, milk is made safe from being tainted with viruses and other pathogens like E Coli, through the pasteurization process, which involves heating dairy to a certain temperature over a period of time.
In 2006, Mary McGonigle-Martin got her son to start drinking raw milk at age seven after seeing advertisements for it at a local health foods store. He became ill with a bacteria that sent him into a coma, shutting down his kidneys. The McGonigle-Martin family is not involved in the current outbreak
Like the anonymous child in the new alert from Marin County Public Health, Chris McGonigle-Martin made a full recovery from his raw-milk borne illness, which was caused by the pathogen E coli
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Pasteurization has been used since 1862, and is thought of us a significant breakthrough in public health. It dramatically reduced the risk of food borne illness by effectively killing harmful bacteria in milk, eggs and juices.
But in recent decades, proponents of raw milk have claimed that pasteurization removes nutrients that help with allergies, asthma, and digestion issues.
However, according to the FDA, this process – which involves heating the milk to kill bacteria – has no significant effect on the nutritional value, nor does it get rid of ‘probiotic microorganisms’ that support gut health.
There have been 32 confirmed cases of bird flu, and one suspected in California this year – beginning in October 2024.
In the US, the total is 58.
Most have been in people who work directly with cows and poultry who have been infected with the virus.
Common symptoms include mild cough and conjunctivitis, which is also known as pink eye.
Since August, 527 herds in the state have been infected. Across the US, there have been roughly 729 herds infected, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
California has had the most cattle and human infections, and is trailed by states like Colorado, Michigan and Missouri.
In late November, a bird flu outbreak was detected at California-based Raw Farm LLC. It’s one of the nation’s biggest suppliers of raw dairy products.
The company issued a voluntary recall of all their products suspected of containing the virus.
Health officials have been testing farms like these amid fears about a new pandemic.
Louise Moncla a virologist at the University of Pennsylvania told Science: ‘This feels the closest to an H5 pandemic that I’ve seen’.
The American Dairy Association said that pasteurization is responsible for the eradication of many food borne illnesses that used to wreak havoc on the nation
In May, FDA commissioner Dr Robert Califf testified before a Senate Committee that they were preparing for a national outbreak of bird flu, since virus has been so infectious and deadly in previous outbreaks.
‘This virus, like all viruses, is mutating,’ Dr Califf told the policymakers. ‘We need to continue to prepare for the possibility that it might jump to humans.’
‘[The] real worry is that it will jump to the human lungs where, when that has happened in other parts of the world… the mortality rate has been 25 percent.’
Each time a new person gets sick with the virus, the bug has another opportunity to mutate, and with each mutation, it has the potential to become more infectious and deadly. That’s why officials are trying to stem infections with warnings like these.
Yet raw milk drinking appears to be at an all time high, thanks in part to proponents like RFK Jr.
Aside from favoring raw milk, the former Presidential candidate has expressed support for debunked theories linking vaccines to autism, 5G wireless technologies to cancer and mass shootings to prescription drug use in the US.
Still, polls from The Hill find that RFK Jr may have a 47 percent approval rating, suggesting that the politician has a large amount of sway over a portion of the American populous.
Raw milk isn’t prohibited nationally, but in some states states like Louisiana, Michigan and New Jersey, raw milk sales are outlawed. In others, like California, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, the product is allowed in general retail settings.
Still, according to MCPH, the H5N1 has yet to transfer between humans, and shouldn’t be a cause of panic.
The department said: ‘People rarely get bird flu, but those who interact with infected dairy cows, poultry, or wildlife have a greater risk of infection. The current risk to the public remains low.’
