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State agriculture officials on Thursday banned Fresno-based Raw Farms from selling raw dairy products to retailers amid continuing concerns about possible avian influenza infection in cattle.
However, with the exception of two limited recalls announced in recent days, products from farms already on store shelves can still be sold.
The ban comes after several days of conflicting test results conducted by different state and local health agencies, with the county public health department finding a presumptive positive sample of bottled raw milk in stores. However, state agriculture officials said bulk testing of the milk did not detect the virus. .
On Thursday, the California Department of Agriculture contacted Mark McAfee, owner of Law Farm LLC, and instructed him to stop all sales to retailers.
“Once raw milk disappears from the shelves, that’s it,” he says.
According to McAfee, neither the Department of Agriculture nor the Department of Health has recalled any products other than those involved in two limited recalls of quarter-gallon “Cream Top” whole dairy products over the past week. That’s what he said.
McAfee confirmed to the Times that the cows were infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. He said he didn’t realize the cows had the disease until this week because they were “very healthy and didn’t show the typical signs and symptoms.” Almost all of them are asymptomatic. ”
He said a few of his 1,800 cows were infected with the virus on Oct. 10, but none tested positive for the virus. He said he removed those cows from the herd.
It is unclear how long the cows were isolated or whether a veterinarian or other professional tested the cows for H5N1.
He said routine bulk milk tests by the state Department of Agriculture have consistently come back negative.
“Obviously, there are very low levels of asymptomatic shedding,” McAfee said.
He said there was a spike in fever in cattle in August. Again, he said, the virus had not been identified in the herd at that time.
He said each cow on the farm is monitored with a device that is placed on the cow’s udder and sends real-time information about things such as the animal’s body temperature and the acidity of the milk.
Last week, Santa Clara County public health investigators tested retail samples of raw milk obtained at stores. The sample tested positive for presumptive H5N1 avian influenza. The state Department of Public Health quickly confirmed the discovery, and Law Farms recalled certain batches that were already on store shelves.
Meanwhile, the state’s Department of Agriculture, which regularly tests dairy products from raw farms, continued to produce negative results, confounding infectious disease experts.
And on Wednesday, Santa Clara County Public Health officials announced a second batch of presumptive H5N1-positive milk from raw farms. Their announcement came just hours after state agricultural inspectors cleared Law Farm’s two herds, creamery, trucks and milk tanks to collect samples. .
Some samples taken by state officials also tested positive, McAfee said.
Questions to the state’s Department of Agriculture and Department of Public Health, which were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, were not answered Friday.
Health officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Wednesday expanded the list of retail stores that may have carried the recalled raw dairy products.
McAfee told the Times that he is urging consumers to “go to the store,” regardless of a positive test or the possibility of selling raw dairy products contaminated with the avian influenza virus. spoke. immediately! “
The magnitude of the risk to raw milk consumers is unknown. So far this year, 55 Americans have been infected with H5N1 avian influenza. These were mainly dairy and poultry workers, who likely became infected by being close to animals rather than by consuming contaminated product.
The source of infection in two of the cases has not been determined, including a child in Alameda County who tested positive earlier this month.
Additionally, a British Columbia teenager became infected more than two weeks ago and has been receiving life-saving treatment ever since.
McAfee said herd immunity in cows is the goal, and once it is reliably stocked in stores, “all raw milk will have antibodies against influenza HPAI H5N1.” That’s amazing! ”
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