Study Reveals Flu Virus Can Stay Infectious in Refrigerated Raw Milk for Five Days
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New York, Dec 14 (NationPress) Researchers have discovered that the influenza or flu virus can remain infectious in refrigerated raw milk for up to five days. This alarming finding comes from a new study by Stanford University during a time when outbreaks of bird flu in dairy cattle have raised alarm about the potential for a new pandemic.
“This study underscores the potential risk of avian influenza transmission through the consumption of raw milk, highlighting the critical need for milk pasteurisation,” stated Alexandria Boehm, the senior author of the study from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the Stanford School of Engineering.
Advocates of raw milk argue that it preserves more beneficial nutrients, enzymes, and probiotics compared to pasteurised milk, claiming it can enhance immune and gastrointestinal health.
However, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has linked raw milk to over 200 outbreaks of illnesses, emphasizing that pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella in raw milk pose “serious” health threats, particularly to children, the elderly, pregnant women, and individuals with compromised immune systems.
Published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, the study examined the stability of a strain of human influenza virus in raw cow’s milk under typical refrigeration conditions.
The H1N1 PR8 strain of the flu virus was found to survive and remain infectious in the milk for up to five days.
“The survival of infectious influenza virus in raw milk for several days raises concerns regarding potential transmission pathways,” remarked Mengyang Zhang, co-lead author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar in civil and environmental engineering. “The virus could contaminate surfaces and other environmental materials within dairy facilities, posing risks to both animals and humans.”
Interestingly, the researchers noted that flu virus RNA—molecules that contain genetic information but are not classified as a health hazard—was detectable in the raw milk for at least 57 days.
In contrast, pasteurisation completely eradicated infectious influenza in the milk and decreased the quantity of viral RNA by nearly 90 percent, although it did not eliminate the RNA entirely.
The findings highlight the necessity for enhancing monitoring systems, especially as bird flu continues to proliferate among livestock, according to the authors of the study.
