US Food and Drug Administration: Remnants of bird flu found in milk

The US Food and Drug Administration announced that inactive parts of the bird flu virus were discovered in pasteurized milk that infected herds of dairy cows in eight states.

US Food and Drug Administration: Remnants of bird flu found in milk, The World Health Organization issues a warning after discovering “bird flu” in the milk of American cows

The US Food and Drug Administration and US Department of Agriculture stressed that the residue "does not represent an actual virus" and therefore does not pose a health risk to consumers.

“To date, we have not seen anything that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the FDA wrote, citing the pasteurization process and “diverting or destroying milk from sick cows.”

According to scientists, there is no evidence to indicate that people can become infected with the virus by consuming pasteurized, heat-treated, or properly cooked foods.

The Food and Drug Administration is testing samples across the country, but officials have not said the source of the positive samples.

While the virus has caused mass deaths of wild birds and other animal populations — even killing thousands of sea lions in South America — the most common symptoms in dairy cows included a reduced amount of milk produced and a decreased appetite, according to the department.