Credit score: Environmental Science & Expertise Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00971
Uncooked milk, hailed by some as a pure and nutritious various to pasteurized dairy, could include hidden risks, in line with a brand new Stanford College examine. The analysis, printed December 12 in Environmental Science & Expertise Letters reveals that influenza or flu virus can stay infectious in refrigerated uncooked milk for as much as 5 days. The findings come at a time when outbreaks of hen flu in dairy cattle have raised issues concerning the potential for a brand new pandemic.
“This work highlights the potential risk of avian influenza transmission through consumption of raw milk and the importance of milk pasteurization,” stated examine senior writer Alexandria Boehm, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Environmental Research within the Stanford Doerr Faculty of Sustainability and the Stanford Faculty of Engineering.
Greater than 14 million People devour uncooked milk yearly. Not like pasteurized milk, uncooked milk isn’t heated to kill probably dangerous pathogens. Proponents of uncooked milk declare that it leaves extra helpful vitamins, enzymes, and probiotics than in pasteurized milk, and may increase immune and gastrointestinal well being.
The Meals and Drug Administration has tied uncooked milk to over 200 outbreaks of sicknesses, and—along with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention—warns that germs, such E. coli and Salmonella, in uncooked milk current “serious” well being dangers, particularly for youngsters, the aged, pregnant girls, and folks with weakened immune programs.
The science behind the danger
The researchers explored the persistence of a pressure of human influenza virus in uncooked cow’s milk at typical refrigeration temperatures. The flu virus, referred to as H1N1 PR8, survived and remained infectious within the milk for as much as 5 days.
“The persistence of infectious influenza virus in raw milk for days raises concerns about potential transmission pathways,” stated examine co-lead writer Mengyang Zhang, a postdoctoral scholar in civil and environmental engineering. “The virus could contaminate surfaces and other environmental materials within dairy facilities, posing risks to animals and humans.”
Moreover, the researchers discovered that flu virus RNA—molecules that carry genetic info however aren’t thought of a well being danger—remained detectable within the uncooked milk for not less than 57 days. By comparability, pasteurization fully destroyed infectious influenza within the milk and decreased the quantity of viral RNA by virtually 90%, however did not remove the RNA fully. Though publicity to influenza virus RNA doesn’t pose a well being danger, RNA-based testing strategies are sometimes used to conduct environmental surveillance of pathogens like influenza.
“The prolonged persistence of viral RNA in both raw and pasteurized milk has implications for food safety assessments and environmental surveillance, particularly because many of the techniques used in environmental surveillance detect RNA,” stated examine co-lead writer Alessandro Zulli, a postdoctoral scholar in civil and environmental engineering.
The analysis grew out of an earlier venture centered on human norovirus and the subfamily of viruses chargeable for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why it issues now
Within the U.S. alone, flu viruses infect greater than 40 million individuals and kill greater than 50,000 yearly. All these viruses can unfold from animals to people, as within the case of swine flu, which led to as many as 1.4 billion human infections globally in 2009-2010.
Though hen flu has not confirmed as harmful to individuals but, it might mutate to turn out to be so. Latest detection of hen flu in cattle has raised questions on its potential transmission via milk and different dairy merchandise.
The examine’s findings underscore the significance of enhancing monitoring programs, significantly as hen flu continues to unfold amongst livestock, in line with the examine’s authors.
The examine enhances earlier analysis involving a number of of the identical researchers that pioneered the usage of wastewater for detection of avian influenza. That evaluation revealed business and industrial dairy waste as main sources. By analyzing wastewater, public well being officers might detect virus exercise in close by cattle populations.
“We never thought that wastewater could be used to detect and respond to zoonotic pathogens circulating in the community,” Boehm stated. “It has been amazing to watch our work on detection in wastewater scaled across the United States and the world.”
Extra info:
Alessandro Zulli et al, Infectivity and Persistence of Influenza A Virus in Uncooked Milk, Environmental Science & Expertise Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c00971
Supplied by
Stanford College
Quotation:
Refrigerated uncooked milk harbors infectious flu virus for five days, examine finds (2024, December 14)
retrieved 14 December 2024
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2024-12-refrigerated-raw-harbors-infectious-flu.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any truthful dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for info functions solely.
