The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged the public to refrain from drinking unpasteurized milk following reports of people infected with the H5N1 virus after drinking raw milk in the US.
According to CNN, 46 dairy farms across nine states in the US are experiencing avian influenza spread in cows, with one farm worker developing conjunctivitis after being infected with H5N1.
CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑惠) said this was the first instance of the H5N1 virus infecting cows and the first instance in which a human was infected with H5N1 by ingesting milk from infected cows.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
She said the CDC convened a meeting on Monday with experts and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture to discuss potential policies.
The participants agreed that while there has been no incident in Taiwan, the public should refrain from drinking raw, unpasteurized milk.
The National Institute for Animal Health said at the meeting that based on information from international gene banks, the H5N1 strain affecting cows is a North American variant distinct from the H5N1 viruses found in Taiwan.
The ministry said it would step up measures to inspect the health of cows and contact the CDC if necessary.
Asked for comment, Food and Drug Administration Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) told reporters that the US government had confirmed that the H5N1 virus had been found in unpasteurized milk, but the residual virus after sterilization was no longer transmissible.
Tseng said that US butchers have veterinarians making routine inspections and any products that do not meet standards are destroyed.
A random sampling of ground beef on the market has also yielded negative results, Tseng said, adding that the US government has pledged to conduct more research on the related risks.
The US is also preparing vaccines to handle the situation, Tseng added.
The CDC said that it is amending the standards to report category-A influenza and has updated its suggested safety precautions for staff working on farms during an outbreak to minimize the impact and maximize public safety.
Meanwhile, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital Department of Infectious Diseases physician Huang Chien-hsien (黃建賢) told reporters yesterday that pigs, among mammals, are particularly susceptible to avian influenza, but it was the first instance that cows had been infected.
He said such an occurrence suggests a virus mutation that could spread to other species, although it has not yet happened.
Huang warned people traveling to areas known to be infected with the H5N1 virus to avoid coming into contact with birds or mammals.
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