Bird Flu Found in Raw Milk (Why Are You Drinking It Anyway?)

Just in time to have president-elect Donald Trump nominate a raw milk enthusiast as the secretary of Health and Human Services, the California Department of Public Health has issued a warning regarding a batch of raw milk contaminated with bird flu.

Raw milk is milk straight from the cow that has not been pasteurized. Pasteurization is the process that kills harmful bacteria and germs that can make you sick or even kill you. The virus was discovered in a sample of whole raw milk from Raw Farm, LLC, which has since issued a voluntary recall. If you’ve got a jug, the “best by” date is November 27.

Bird flu has been spreading in poultry, dairy cows, and occasionally humans in recent months. Pasteurization would effectively kill any traces of bird flu. Unless you are drinking raw milk, that is, in which case you’re rolling the dice with your own life. Raw milk is rife with milk-borne diseases like Listeria, E. coli, salmonella, and yes, even Bird flu.

Pasteurization is one of the all-time great inventions that helped usher humanity into a new era of living long lives without worrying about our milk killing us or, at the very least, leaving us with vicious diarrhea.

The County of Santa Clara public health laboratory initially identified the virus, and then the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory confirmed the results. Raw Farm’s facilities have tested negative for bird flu and so far there are no reported illnesses linked to their raw milk.