New Yorkers Urged To Stop Drinking Raw Milk Due To This Deadly Virus

While most viruses can spread through contact, this particularly rapid spreading one is being carried in raw milk products and could be deadly if consumed.

With the winter weather here many are coming down with illnesses that are spreading due to the current climate. Factor in holiday gatherings and you have a recipe for disaster right now across the United States.

Here in New York we have the norovirus spreading all around moving from household to household wrecking havoc. Other parts of the country are still seeing a high rate of COVID-19 cases. The flu is also on the rise.

One other disease that continues to be a problem for not only humans but also animals is the avian flue, or bird flu. Also known as H5n1 it is currently causing egg prices to go way up around the country and the first human death related to that disease was reported on Monday.

From the CDC:

H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers.

Currently they report that the risk is "low." In 2024 there were 66 confirmed cases of humans with bird flu, and thankfully none of them in New York. California had the highest rate with 36 cases.

Some of the outbreaks globally have been attributed to consuming of raw milk and other dairy products. In March when the first outbreak of bird flu was detected in dairy cattle in the US, the FDA began doing research to ensure that dairy farmers across the country were following proper pasteurizing procedures.

A child in California contracted avian flu after consuming raw milk, that was then recalled. The raw milk and other raw dairy products available do not go through the pasteurizing process which leaves them susceptible to containing strains of the bird flu and that can be given to humans through consuming it.