Bird Flu Was Detected in Raw Milk Sold in California — Here's What You Need to Know

H5N1, also known as the Avian Influenza or "Bird Flu," has been detected in a batch of raw milk sold in California. 

According to the California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) recall notice, it is "warning the public to avoid consuming one batch of cream top, whole raw milk produced and packaged by Raw Farm, LLC of Fresno County due to a detection of bird flu virus in a retail sample." It added that the company issued a voluntary recall of the affected raw milk — which has lot code 20241109 and a Best By date of November 27, 2024 printed on the packaging — at the state's request.​

The CDPH noted that no illnesses connected to the raw milk have been reported, but "due to the ongoing spread of bird flu in dairy cows, poultry, and sporadic human cases, consumers should not consume any of the affected raw milk." If you have purchased any of the product, the CDPH encourages you to immediately return it to your point of purchase. 

This recall does not involve any associated cases of illness, but it does come just days after a California child tested positive for bird flu — which the Washington Post reported is the first positive case of the illness in a child in U.S. history.

Health officials have expressed growing concern over this variant of bird flu after it has been detected in dairy cows and other domestic animals, including cats, mice, and pigs. The Washington Post additionally reported that the strain, which was once believed to only circulate in birds, has now infected at least 55 people in the U.S. in 2024. While most of these incidents impacted people who regularly come in contact with farm animals, the case of the California child is particularly concerning as they had no known point of animal contact. 

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained, there is still no evidence of person-to-person spread of this variant of the bird flu in the U.S. However, it added that it "continues to closely monitor available data from influenza surveillance systems, particularly in states affected by outbreaks in animals, including California, where widespread outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu have been detected in wild birds and domestic poultry since 2022 and dairy herds since August 2024 in that state." 

The CDC's risk assessment for the bird flu, it explained, is still low. "However, people with exposure to infected or potentially infected animals, such as birds, dairy cattle, or other animals (including livestock), or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals, are at higher risk of infection. CDC recommends avoiding unprotected exposures to sick or dead animals, including wild birds, poultry, other domesticated birds, and other wild or domesticated animals (including cows)." 

As for raw milk, the CDPH noted that public health experts have "long warned consumers against consuming raw milk or raw milk products due to elevated risks of foodborne illness," including pathogens like Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, toxin-producing E. coli, Brucella, Campylobacter, and "many other bacteria." This is because raw milk products are not pasteurized, a process that heats milk to the requisite temperature to kill harmful bacteria and and other germs, including the bird flu. 

This advice is particularly important now that Robert F. Kennedy has been nominated as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in the upcoming Trump administration. Kennedy has long been an ardent supporter of raw milk, stating he "only drinks raw milk." 

But as Food & Wine previously reported, experts have repeatedly agreed that pasteurized milk and raw milk are effectively nutritionally the same, as pasteurization does not notably alter the nutritional makeup of milk.

Registered dietitian Joanna Gregg of MyFitnessPal further explained to Food & Wine that the bacteria in raw milk are not probiotic, and that “most of the microorganisms referred to in this way are actually pathogens that are present due to infected udder tissues, the dairy environment, and milking equipment, and high levels of these bacteria often indicate poor hygiene or poor animal health.”

The CDPH added in its notice that either drinking or "accidentally inhaling raw milk containing bird flu virus may lead to illness," as can "touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands after touching raw milk with bird flu virus."

Symptoms of infection include "eye redness or discharge, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, trouble breathing, and fever." If you've consumed the recalled raw milk product and are experiencing any of these symptoms, the CDPH advises you to immediately contact your health care provider.