WASHINGTON – A second round of testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) in dairy products by federal agencies confirmed previous sampling results that the pasteurization process kills any active trace of the virus.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reiterated Aug. 13 that dairy products remain safe for consumption.

FDA conducted its sample survey using 167 samples, which included products such as pasteurized milk, cream cheese, hard cheese, ice cream and aged raw milk cheese. Approximately 17% of the product samples contained genetic material from H5N1, but no viable virus was detected.

“It is clear pasteurization is effective against the virus,” declared Steve Grube, chief medical officer for FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

However, results for aging raw milk cheese came back inconclusive, leading the FDA to stick with its assumption that raw milk consumption presents a risk to consumers.

“In the case of the raw milk cheese that we tested, none of the samples in the study had viral genetic material, suggesting that the herd producing the milk used to prepare the cheeses was from cows uninfected at the time of milking,” Grube explained. “Thus, no conclusions can be drawn about whether the production and aging of cheese made from unpasteurized milk is sufficient to inactivate the virus.”

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced additional H5N1 studies to come, specifically plans to test meat from 800 culled dairy cattle beginning in September. Emilio Esteban, USDA’s under secretary for food safety, projected the study to run for an entire year.

While federal agencies continue to understand the virus and assess the risk it poses to the public, officials are also at work spreading awareness to dairies of the potential dangers of the disease.

So far, USDA has received 35 applications from dairy producers seeking support. Of those, 23 have been approved, amounting to approximately $2 million in aid. A significant portion comes from Colorado, which has implemented bulk milk sampling. Within the past week, 12 new applications from Colorado were approved.

Eric Deeble, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs at USDA, explained that amounts given to each individual varies based on the milk price from the preceding month, the number of infected animals and the duration animals were withdrawn from milking.

When questioned on the state of the H5N1 spread, Deeble noted that testing remains high. Colorado has seen a considerable uptick in testing, largely in part from its statewide bulk milk sampling efforts. However, across the country, a low number of individual herds is testing positive.

“I don’t want to say that we feel like we’re ahead of this … but I do feel like the response is adequate, and I do feel like we are supporting our producers to make it easy for them to test and make it easy for them to get the support that they need, if in fact they are affected,” Deeble said.

Part of Deeble’s optimism regarding the spread of virus among dairy cattle is due to the outbreak resulting from a single spillover event. The USDA has been able to trace the widespread detections of H5N1 to an occurrence first detected in the Texas Panhandle region.

With fall approaching, an increase in cases is possible as interstate movement of dairy cattle picks up to prepare for the added demand during the school year.

An increase in outbreaks at poultry operations is also anticipated in line with migratory bird patterns. However, their migration is not considered a threat to keeping the H5N1 virus at bay among dairy cattle, according to federal officials.