As avian flu spreads, the Biden administration is rushing to convince Americans that the "milk supply is safe."

As avian flu spreads, the Biden administration is rushing to convince Americans that the "milk supply is safe."

To learn more about how the virus is spreading and whether it poses a threat to people, officials are working quickly to carry out additional testing.

Health

Using a range of techniques, such as lab testing and sampling milk and other dairy products at different stages of production and on store shelves, the federal government is hurrying to finish testing. Gerald Herbert/Associated Press.

Exist any more warnings regarding safety?

Indeed. Though they have been cautious in their assessment, the administration has acknowledged that the virus found in dairy cows "is a novel and evolving situation" and that "no studies on the effects of pasteurization on HPAI viruses (such as H5N1) in bovine milk have previously been completed." Pasteurization is "likely" to inactivate the avian flu virus in milk.

Using a range of techniques, such as lab testing and sampling milk and other dairy products at different stages of production and on store shelves, the federal government is working quickly to finish this testing.

Additionally, the USDA on Wednesday released a new federal regulation mandating that before dairy cattle are transferred across state boundaries, they must be tested for avian flu. Any positive virus results in animals must also be reported to USDA by laboratories and state veterinarians. Starting on Monday, there will be testing and required reporting.

Public health professionals are worried about the length of time that the testing is taking as well as the current lack of transparency surrounding the government's conclusions. The head of Brown University School of Public Health's Pandemic Center, Jennifer Nuzzo, questioned why the FDA delayed declaring that it will test milk products and quickly culture any possible virus pieces discovered.

"Being transparent about what you're doing is important, just from a government credibility standpoint," Nuzzo stated.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) urged the USDA to "immediately deploy additional resources in states that have the opportunity to prevent the disease from entering herds within their borders by working directly with farmers on improving their biosecurity options" in a letter dated April 24 to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The World Health Organization has also stated that although farmworkers and other individuals who frequently come into contact with dairy cows have a "low-to-moderate" risk of contracting the avian flu, the general public faces a "low" risk of infection. A dairy worker in Texas was the only person to contract the virus during this most recent incident.

Through associations like the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents workers in the meat processing industry, and the United Farm Workers union, USDA and the CDC are attempting to inform farmworkers about the risks and appropriate safety measures. According to spokesman Jason McDonald, CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah visited with two farmworker groups in two weeks. Additionally, the CDC has revised worker guidelines and provided fact sheets in both Spanish and English.

The president of the UFCW, Marc Perrone, stated that his organization is in discussions with the USDA, CDC, and OSHA over "increased safety measures and access to testing for all our members in meatpacking and processing."

Yet, other farmworker organizations claim that they are having difficulty putting the CDC's recommendations into practice in the absence of employer cooperation or government-mandated modifications to workplace safety regulations.

According to Jessica Maxwell, a representative for the Workers Center of Central New York, which represents dairy farmworkers, "lack of training and proper equipment is a very common complaint we hear from farmworkers already, so if this were to blow up into a bigger outbreak, it's clear that many farms don't have basic preventive measures in place."

"It still irritates me that there is an ongoing risk to public health due to the exposure of these farmworkers, and no one is discussing it," Nuzzo stated, noting that it's possible that further infections in humans have gone unnoticed. "I fear that because we are ignoring the threat that is directly in front of us and focusing all of our attention on the one that is coming later."

Is there a vaccine that protects people from avian flu?

According to the Biden administration, two vaccine candidates seem to be a suitable fit for the bird flu virus that is now in circulation. However, authorities do not think that expanding a vaccine program at this time is required.

In the event that FDA action is required, hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccines targeting the H5N1 avian flu virus in humans could be made available to reporters in only a few weeks, according to HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O'Connell. In a matter of months, more than 100 million doses might be distributed. According to officials, states may also seek personal protective equipment from the national stockpile to aid in the protection of farmworkers and other individuals who come into close contact with diseased animals.

O'Connell stated, "I want to be clear, even with these tools, there is currently no need to ramp up and the risk to humans from the current avian flu outbreak remains low." Prior to this, the health official informed POLITICO that the vaccine would require two doses.

What impact does this have on the dairy industry?

Industry associations assert that they are complying with current regulations to isolate sick dairy cows on their farms in order to prevent their milk from ever entering the food chain, as well as working with the US government's testing efforts.

They are also restating the agencies' conclusions that customers can still safely purchase pasteurized milk and other dairy products from retailers. The International Dairy Foods Association stated in a fact sheet that "viral fragments detected by lab tests following pasteurization are evidence that the pasteurization process has effectively destroyed HPAI; these fragments have no impact on human health."

Does the epidemic mean that milk is becoming more expensive at the grocery store?

Nothing suggests that will happen just yet. The National Milk Producers Federation's Alan Bjerga stated that he has not observed any changes in milk prices for farmers or customers.

He sent an email saying, "Federal agencies are still noting that pasteurization is effective at making the virus inactive in milk and that consumers can be confident in the safety of the milk supply, even with the recent FDA tests, which may suggest a wider prevalence of the illness than earlier thought." "It appears that they are based on what we know."

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