An outbreak of avian flu in dairy cow herds has resurfaced long-simmering tensions between the federal authorities and uncooked milk advocates, who downplay considerations that well being officers have raised.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The hen flu outbreak continues to unfold amongst cows. The virus has now been present in virtually 50 dairy herds throughout 9 states. Well being officers say milk that’s pasteurized to kill germs is secure to drink, however the Meals and Drug Administration has renewed warnings towards uncooked milk.
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DONALD PRATER: We proceed to strongly advise towards the consumption of uncooked milk and advocate that business doesn’t manufacture or promote uncooked milk or uncooked milk merchandise.
CHANG: Now, unpasteurized – or uncooked – milk remains to be being bought in lots of states. And advocates for uncooked milk say the federal authorities has all the time opposed its consumption, so why ought to they pay attention now? Effectively, right here to speak extra about this entire scenario are NPR’s Pien Huang and Chiara Eisner. Hey to each of you.
PIEN HUANG, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHIARA EISNER, BYLINE: Hey.
CHANG: Hey. So Chiara, I wish to begin with you ‘trigger you went to Texas final week. And also you had been right here on this mission to search out uncooked milk and check it for this virus. What did you discover?
EISNER: I discovered it was fairly simple to buy in Texas. It is authorized there, and all I needed to do was drive as much as these farms and buy the milk immediately from them. In some instances, there was a retailer attendant who I paid the cash to. In different instances, there wasn’t even anyone there. I simply opened the door to the fridge, grabbed the milk, left money in a drop field and got here out. In a kind of farms in San Antonio, I met one other girl who was shopping for milk. Her identify was Cheryl Masraum. And she or he mentioned she’s been consuming uncooked milk on and off for the previous 15 to twenty years.
CHERYL MASRAUM: As a result of I believe that uncooked milk is usually a a lot better high quality. Proper now, we’re simply type of watching the scenario and, you recognize – (laughter).
EISNER: That was in Texas, which was floor zero for this outbreak of hen flu in cows. So far as scientists can inform, that is the place hen flu jumped to cows final December and kicked off this entire outbreak.
CHANG: Wait, so can folks get hen flu from consuming uncooked milk, Pien? Like, what do we all know in regards to the dangers?
HUANG: Effectively, it is all theoretical, and the reply is perhaps. However truthfully, well being officers simply do not know. So Don Prater from the FDA, we heard from him within the intro. He is very clear that the company does not advocate consuming uncooked milk, however he additionally says that there are a whole lot of open questions.
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PRATER: There’s not an incredible quantity of research exhibiting the infectivity associated to this virus and uncooked milk merchandise.
HUANG: The one one that’s for positive gotten hen flu thus far was a dairy employee in Texas, and he was coping with sick cows. He in all probability acquired uncovered to sprays of contaminated milk and manure. So far as well being authorities can inform, nobody has gotten hen flu from consuming uncooked milk but. So what they’re leaning on of their suggestion is the truth that folks have gotten sick from different issues in uncooked milk, like salmonella and E. coli, and that is why they do not suppose folks ought to drink it.
CHANG: And are individuals who drink uncooked milk truly taking this recommendation?
HUANG: It does not appear to be it, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK.
HUANG: We reached out to some uncooked milk teams, and so they say that their prospects have been asking a whole lot of questions, however demand appears to be holding regular.
CHANG: How common is uncooked milk anyway? Like, I do not suppose I’ve ever tasted it.
HUANG: Yeah, properly, there’s not truly a whole lot of uncooked milk drinkers, lower than 2% of the grownup inhabitants within the U.S., in response to an FDA research from a few years in the past. However the ones who do drink it are very keen about it and so they often fall into two camps. So there’s the unique uncooked milk supporters who’ve been round for many years. They’ve lengthy needed entry to native wholesome meals. And extra just lately, the uncooked milk motion has picked up folks that need much less authorities regulation, meals freedom.
So individuals who’ve watched this business for a very long time say that this meals freedom was boosted by COVID when mistrust of the federal government and authorities scientists actually grew. I spoke with Mark McAfee, a uncooked milk dairy farmer in California. He is based the Uncooked Milk Institute, which is an advocacy group. And he says that his prospects simply do not belief the FDA.
MARK MCAFEE: The FDA hates uncooked milk? Wonderful. The FDA will take any excuse to blast us any manner they’ll. The folks that comply with us and work with us, if the FDA says it is dangerous, they’re going to run for it. They need it so badly.
HUANG: McAfee says that he examined his cows for H5N1 when he first heard in regards to the outbreak, and so they did not have it. This was a couple of month and a half or two months in the past. However that is only one cut-off date and only one farm.
CHANG: Effectively, what about testing? I imply, it seems like there’s all this concern. And persons are saying, no, that is simply hypothesis. However it looks like realizing whether or not there’s truly the virus contained in the uncooked milk provide would assist clear this up. So Chiara, what will we find out about testing?
EISNER: You are proper, Ailsa, it will actually assist to know if and the way a lot virus is on the market within the uncooked milk provide being bought now to folks. However testing does not appear to be taking place recurrently, and that information is absolutely onerous to return by. That is why we tried to search out our personal. However once I introduced uncooked milk that I purchased from these 4 Texas farms to one of many few labs licensed by the USDA to check milk for hen flu, the lab insisted on calling every of the 4 farms first for permission, although the USDA has confirmed the company does not require permission from farms to carry out the check.
Not one of the farms gave the lab permission to run the assessments. They advised the lab they had been conscious of what a non-negative end result would do for his or her enterprise. So the lab refused to check our samples. Which means we weren’t capable of learn the way a lot virus was within the uncooked milk being bought now in Texas, and possibly it’s extremely troublesome for different members of the general public to do this, too.
CHANG: OK, so we do not understand how a lot of this virus is current within the present uncooked milk provide. So I suppose my query now could be, how ought to we be evaluating the dangers right here, Pien?
HUANG: Yeah, Ailsa, I imply, such as you mentioned, we’re undecided if there’s reside hen flu virus within the uncooked milk provide, however we additionally do not know that there is not, until we check for it or…
CHANG: Proper.
HUANG: …Except we inactivate it by pasteurizing it. We additionally do not know if consuming milk with the virus is a straightforward manner for folks to get contaminated. And there are different worries.
CHANG: Like what, Chiara?
EISNER: So the concern is that if influenza viruses from two totally different species, like a human and a hen species, infect one individual on the similar time, a brand new type of virus might be created that might be extra contagious in folks. That might result in a pandemic. The extra animals the flu spreads to and the extra folks it spreads to, the better the possibilities that that would occur. That is why despite the fact that the official evaluation is that the chance to the general public is low, federal well being officers are urging folks to be cautious and never drink uncooked milk.
CHANG: That’s NPR’s Chiara Eisner and Pien Huang. Thanks to each of you.
HUANG: Thanks, Ailsa.
EISNER: Thanks, Ailsa.
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