California health authorities warned this Wednesday about a second batch of unpasteurized milk in which the bird flu virus was detected.
The contaminated raw milk sample was from Raw Farm LLC, the California Department of Public Health said in a news release.
At the request of the state, Raw Farm, based in Fresno County, issued a voluntary recall for the affected lot: code 20241119, with an expiration date of December 7.
Health officials noted that no cases of illness associated with the product have been detected.
“Consumers should immediately return any remaining products to the store where they were purchased. “Pasteurized milk remains safe to drink,” the statement added.
The warning comes after the health department reported Sunday that it detected bird flu in a batch with a sell-by date of Nov. 27. Raw Farm issued a voluntary recall on that lot earlier this week.
This second case of bird flu was detected in testing by the Santa Clara County Public Health Laboratory, which tests unpasteurized dairy products in county retail stores “as a second barrier of consumer protection.”
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) visited the Raw Farm milk processing facility on Wednesday to collect “additional samples of stored bulk tank milk and bottled products.”
Raw milk is unpasteurized, a process that includes heating at a high temperature to kill harmful germs and viruses. Public health officials noted that consuming it can pose serious health risks, especially among certain vulnerable populations, due to the elevated risks of foodborne illness.
“Outbreaks of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin-producing E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter and many other bacteria have been reported related to the consumption of unpasteurized dairy products,” the statement said.
Since October, there have been 29 human cases of bird flu in the state, and 28 of those people had direct contact with infected dairy cows.
So far, no bird flu infections have been detected among people in the state or in the United States. Those registered for consuming contaminated milk reported mild symptoms, mainly eye infections, and none required hospitalization. The state periodically tests raw milk from dairies as part of its campaign against bird flu.
Bird flu can be contracted by drinking raw milk from an infected cow, when unpasteurized milk from an infected cow is splashed in your eyes, nose, or mouth, or by touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with your hands. unwashed after contact with it.
Raw Farm said in a statement shared Thursday that while bird flu has affected hundreds of herds in California, “all of Raw Farm’s cows are healthy and do not show any signs or symptoms of HPAI or bird flu.”
“However, it is possible that some cows in one of our herds may be asymptomatic shedders. None of our cows are symptomatic or showing signs of illness,” the statement noted. “Every day, Raw Farm tests all milk in our pathogen lab to ensure our products are pathogen-free.”
Raw Farm said it is not “permitted to access or perform” bird flu testing for its raw milk and that the company instead relies on partners at the CDFA and the state veterinary office.
“We are working tirelessly with all of our scientific relationships and technology to overcome this process and return delicious, nutritious, immune-boosting, unpasteurized dairy products to a store near you,” the statement stated.
In a separate statement, Raw Farm said the CDFA “has quarantined our herd, and all milk must be sold pasteurized until the quarantine is lifted.”
According to the CDFA, avian flu has been detected in 436 dairies in the state. Those dairies are under quarantine, which will be released when the farms are fully recovered and then placed on a watch list for weekly testing.
The CDFA detailed that the national outbreak of H5N1 bird flu began in poultry in 2022 and was first detected in dairy cattle in the United States in March 2024. According to the country’s Department of Agriculture, cases of infected cattle herds in California and Utah.
