Bird Flu Virus Contamination Pulls Raw Milk off Santa Barbara Shelves

One batch of raw milk from California has tested positive for bird flu, a virus that has sickened herds of dairy cows across the nation, as well as a number of dairy workers. The manufacturer, Raw Farm LLC of Fresno County, voluntarily recalled a “cream top, whole raw milk” with lot code 20241109, expiration date November 27, 2024. While no illnesses have been reported, the California Department of Public Health advises purchasers to return the product to the store where it was purchased.

Raw milk from Raw Farm is sold by a number of Santa Barbara grocery stores. Several store employees told the Independent that Raw Farm had contacted them about a recall this Monday morning. The product has been taken off the shelves, they said.

The recall does not affect pasteurized milk as the heat of the pasteurization process kills bacteria and viruses, including the bird flu virus — H5N1 — that concerns medical officials. Raw milk products have caused outbreaks of illnesses in the past, from Salmonella, Listeria, and e. Coli, for instance. However, advocates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services — believe raw milk contains more healthy enzymes, vitamins, and probiotics than the pasteurized version.

A virus borne by wild birds and waterfowl, H5N1 first affected U.S. poultry in 2021, then spread to dairy cows, likely through common watering holes. While the first human case was a poultry worker in 2022, the second this past March was a dairyman in Texas who reported eye redness, or conjunctivitis, that was traced to H5N1. This first report coming out of Texas also associated the virus with the death of barn cats, and the virus was detected in the milk of infected herds.

The virus is shed through bodily liquids, including milk, which has a thick, yellow consistency from cows that are ill. Any such milk was ordered destroyed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, but cows can carry the virus and not appear to be ill. While the virus has a high mortality rate in birds, only 10 percent of cows in an infected herd may show signs of illness, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. As of November 22, the CDC had counted 616 affected dairy herds in 15 states.

Thus far, 53 people working in poultry or dairy barns have reported an illness, generally mild, but two other infections are of unknown origin. What concerns health officials is that H5N1 might develop the ability to transmit from human to human. A recent case in California found a household sick with flu, with one child testing positive for H5N1. The rest of the family, however, only had regular respiratory viruses, not the avian variety, and the route of transmission to the child remains unknown.

Concern has existed that mild symptoms or a reluctance to report illness has downplayed the number of people infected, thought to occur from splashes during milking. So far, no person-to-person transmission of H5N1 has taken place. U.S. Health and Human Services stated in October that the department has been “preparing for avian influenza outbreak for 20 years,” and has emphasized community health, food safety, farm workers, and mitigating risk to both animals and people. Physicians have emphasized that should an outbreak occur, vaccines against H5N1 already exist.

The virus has had a huge impact on the dairy industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has offered aid in the form of personal protection equipment, biosecurity improvements, reimbursement for veterinary costs, and compensation for losses. In the poultry industry, emergency funding was given for birds and eggs that had to be destroyed.