Bird flu has been detected in raw milk in California

State health officials are warning Californians not to drink a single batch of milk from a Fresno-based dairy farm after bird flu was found in a sample.  

The virus was found in a batch of cream top, whole raw milk produced and packaged at Raw Farm LLC after a public health laboratory purchased it at a retail outlet for testing.  

The company issued a voluntary recall stating that the batch consisted of quart and half-gallon fluid milk sizes produced on Nov. 9 with an expiration date of Nov. 27.  

Stores are encouraged to throw out Raw Farm products with lot ID #20241109, according to a statement from the company. 

No illness associated with the lot of raw milk has been reported, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). But out of an “abundance of caution,” Californians are urged to not consume any of the affected raw milk and should immediately return any products with lot ID #20241109 back to where they purchased them.  

Health officials have long warned about the dangers of drinking raw milk or raw milk products that have not been pasteurized. Pasteurization is a process that involves heating liquids for a specific amount of time to kill dangerous bacteria and viruses like bird flu.  

Outbreaks of numerous bacteria like salmonella, listeria and brucella have been linked to consuming raw dairy products, according to California health officials.  

California began regularly testing raw milk for bird flu after the virus was found in dairy herds earlier this year. Now, the state will begin testing for the virus twice a week, according to a statement from CDPA. 

In March, H5NI bird flu was detected in dairy cows and goats, and by April a case of the virus was found in a person — a Texas cattle farmworker. Since then, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and various state public health departments have found bird flu infections in 55 people, with 29 of those cases occurring in California. Most of those who became infected with the virus in California had direct contact with dairy cows infected with bird flu, according to CDPA.

Earlier this week, California health officials confirmed that a child had contracted bird flu — the first case in a minor.  

“The child is recovering from their illness,” the CDC wrote in a release. “An investigation by the California Department of Public Health into the child’s possible H5NI exposure source is ongoing.”

There has not been a confirmed case of human-to-human spread of the virus so far this year, according to the agency.