Clarke County

UGA researchers partner with FDA to test milk products for bird flu, track national outbreak

By WSBTV.com News Staff
The agency said that while they are continuing to study the issue, consumers should not be concern because the flu remnants are “inactivated” and that the findings "do not represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers."

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images)

By WSBTV.com News Staff

ATHENS, Ga. — Months after avian influenza was detected in American milk products and the herds of cattle that produce it, the University of Georgia is among several institutions that will be testing dairy products for safety.

According to UGA, the H5N1 outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A is still an issue facing the United States’ dairy industry.

To help ensure the safety of dairy products nationally, the university is teaming up with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and four other institutions, to test products for safety and reduce the threat of avian influenza among humans and animals.

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Back in March, the bird flu was detected among American cattle that produce the nation’s dairy products. Dairy cattle in the Texas panhandle tested positive for H5N1 on March 5, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Channel 2 Action News reported a few days after that while national agencies were working to determine safety levels for dairy products, Georgia officials had said milk in the state was still safe.

In April, the USDA said samples of milk in U.S. stores had tested positive for the virus. By September, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had found 14 people who were ill from bird flu since March.

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Now, UGA will work to test dairy products and track the spread of the bird flu outbreak across the U.S.

“This virus and its spread are concerning,” S. Mark Tompkins, director and principal investigator of the UGA center said. “I worry about the changing ecology of this virus, the sustained spread of H5N1 across dairy farms, and our ability to take the steps to address it.”

Officials, and researchers, say that while pasteurizing milk appears to kill the avian flu virus present in dairy products, raw milk and items made from it could still pose a risk for infection.

“The concern is that there is a substantial population that prefers unpasteurized dairy products,” Tompkins, who also serves as a professor of virology and immunology in UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, added.  “The risk of falling ill from salmonella or listeria contamination of raw dairy products has been recognized for many years.

According to the FDA, the other institutions working on the research are:

  • Cornell University
  • The University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • National Institutes of Health Rocky Mountain Laboratories and NIH Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response
  • St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

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