California investigating possible case of bird flu in child who drank raw milk

(CNN) — California health officials are investigating a possible case of bird flu in a child who became ill after drinking raw milk, Marin County Public Health said Tuesday.

The child went to a local emergency department in November with fever and vomiting after drinking raw milk and tested positive for influenza A, the county said.

The milk was sold under the Raw Farm brand, according to Niccore Tyler, chief assistant director of Marin County Health and Human Services.

Late last month, Fresno-based Raw Farm halted distribution and recalled several lots of milk and cream after testing by the California Department of Public Health found bird flu virus in samples of bulk milk and bottled products from the dairy. Raw Farm has said it has paused production while its herd is under quarantine.

More testing is underway at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine whether the child had H5N1 bird flu. Initial tests conducted by the agency have been negative for H5 flu, according to a source close to the investigation, but the testing hasn’t been completed.

The child recovered from their illness, and no family members became ill.

California health officials have been warning about the risks of raw milk and other raw dairy products since the virus was identified in products last month.

Pasteurized milk goes through a heating process that kills harmful pathogens, but raw milk is not pasteurized and can carry listeria, Campylobacter, salmonella, E. coli and the bird flu virus.

Bird flu has continued to spread in wild birds, poultry and dairy cattle across the United States since spring. There’s no evidence of person-to-person spread, but scientists worry that the virus can mutate to spread more easily among people. The US Department of Agriculture announced last week a plan to expand testing of milk bound for pasteurization in order to better track the spread of bird flu.

Fifty-eight bird flu cases have been confirmed in humans in the United States this year, including 32 in California. Most are linked to farm workers who have been in contact with sick animals.

Last month, California also reported the first US case identified in a child; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that the virus from that case resembled those previously detected in humans, cattle and poultry in California but that it’s not clear how the child was exposed.

In an alert to health-care providers last week, the California Department of Health said doctors should consider bird flu in people with acute respiratory symptoms or conjunctivitis who’ve had recent exposure to animals with bird flu or who have recently consumed raw dairy products.

Bird flu symptoms in humans include typical flu-like symptoms such as eye redness, sore throat, runny nose, cough, diarrhea, vomiting, body aches, fatigue, trouble swallowing or fever.

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