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Fragments of the bird flu virus have been found in about one fifth of commercial milk samples tested in a U.S. nationally representative study, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While the presence of traces of the virus in milk doesn’t necessarily indicate a risk to consumers, more tests are needed to confirm if intact pathogen is present and remains infectious, the FDA said in a statement on its website. That would determine “whether there is any risk of illness associated with consuming the product,” it added.The initial study results offer a stark indication of how quickly a virus that has killed millions of birds globally is spreading among U.S. dairy cows, raising health and food security woes while spooking markets. Read More: Is It Safe to Eat Eggs and Chicken Dur...

Poultry producers will be required to bring salmonella bacteria in certain chicken products to very low levels to help prevent food poisoning under a final rule issued Friday by U.S. agriculture officials.When the regulation takes effect in 2025, salmonella will be considered an adulterant—a contaminant that can cause foodborne illness—when it is detected above certain levels in frozen breaded and stuffed raw chicken products. That would include things like frozen chicken cordon bleu and chicken Kiev dishes that appear to be fully cooked but are only heat-treated to set the batter or coating.It's the first time the U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared salmonella as an adulterant in raw poultry in the same way that certain E. coli bacteria are regarded as contaminants that must be ke...

Bird flu has been hitting a little too close to home lately. In its testing of the commercial milk supply, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported on April 25 that 20% of milk samples tested from the retail market contained “viral fragments” of H5N1 bird flu. Many believe that's an underestimate; experts at Ohio State University have found that as much as 40% of milk samples from processing facilities in the Midwest may contain parts of the virus.The results immediately raised concerns about the safety of the U.S.' milk supply and the risk of infection for people consuming it. So far, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization say that the risk remains low for people to get infected from milk. In the U.S., there have only been two k...

For years, researchers have been working on vaccines that aim to prevent viral infections by strengthening immune defenses at viruses’ doorway to the body: the nose.A small study recently published in PNAS presents a similar, if lower-tech, idea. Coating the inside of the nose with the over-the-counter antibiotic ointment Neosporin seems to trigger an immune response that may help the body repel respiratory viruses like those that cause COVID-19 and the flu, the study suggests.The research raises the idea that Neosporin could serve as an “extra layer” of protection against respiratory illnesses, on top of existing tools like vaccines and masks, says study co-author Akiko Iwasaki, an immunobiologist at the Yale School of Medicine and one of the U.S.’ leading nasal vaccine researchers.The st...