Canada says its commercial milk tests negative for bird flu
"No evidence" of H5N1 bird flu found after enhanced testing
16 May 2024
2 minute read
By: Canadian government officials said samples of commercially sold milk as of May 14 have shown "no evidence" of H5N1 bird flu after enhanced testing aimed at alleviating Canadians concerns following the virus' detection in some US dairy cattle, reported Reuters.
Dairy cattle in nine US states have been found to have the virus, prompting warnings to dairy workers even as the threat to the general population is considered low.
Canadian inspectors already tightened import requirements on US breeding cattle this month after the first confirmed case of the H5N1 virus in a dairy herd in March and only the second human case in two years was identified in a dairy farm worker in April, raising concerns about the spread of the virus to animals and people.
"We understand that Canadians may be concerned about the safety of milk and milk products... The method used to test foods for (H5N1) is very sensitive and will detect fragments of the virus, even if the virus is not infectious," the Canadian government said in a notice posted on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, Canadian Food Inspection Agency laboratories found no evidence of disease after testing 142 retail milk samples from across the country, the government of Canada said. The US Food and Drug Administration has also tested milk samples and said it found no signs of live virus but cautioned against drinking unpasteurised raw milk.
