As the H5N1 bird flu virus continues to spread Poultry flocks and dairy cattleConsumers could also be concerned about whether the U.S. milk supply is protected to drink. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the reply is yes. so long as the milk is pasteurized.

However, in late November 2024, California regulators recalled two batches of raw, unpasteurized milk from a dairy farm in Fresno after the bird flu virus was detected within the milk. The dairy afterwards has recalled all of its raw milk and cream products from trade because of possible bird flu infection. State regulators quarantined the farm and halted any redistribution of its raw milk, cream, kefir, butter and cheese products made on or after Nov. 27.

Immediately following the recalls, no cases of human avian influenza linked to the milk were identified. However, officials urged shoppers to not drink the raw milk from the affected batches and to return it to the shop where they purchased it.

Despite warnings from health experts that it could contain raw milk high concentrations of the bird flu virustogether with many other pathogens, Raw milk sales within the USA have increased. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump has said he’ll nominate head of the Department of Health and Human Services, has claimed that raw milk “promotes human health.” contrary to the warnings of FDA officials and food scientists.

As Extension Food Scientist in a state where the sale of raw milk is legalI provide technical support to assist processors produce prime quality and protected dairy products. I also wish to help people understand the confusing world of pasteurization methods on their milk labels and why experts strongly advise against consuming raw milk and products comprised of it.

What could make milk unsafe?

Dairy products, like many foods, pose risks that may lead to numerous illnesses and even death. Milk comes from animals that graze outdoors, live in stables and lie in mud and dung. The milk is picked up from the farm by tanker trucks and delivered to the processing plant. These environments provide quite a few opportunities for contamination by pathogens that cause disease and produce organisms that cause food spoilage.

For example, comes from environmental sources comparable to soil and water. Mild infections with listeriosis cause flu-like symptoms. Unfortunately, more serious cases are too common and might result in miscarriages in pregnant women in extreme cases even death.

Other pathogens commonly related to dairy animals and raw milk contain which may cause serious gastrointestinal infections and result in kidney damage; essentially the most common reason for diarrheal illness within the United States; And which cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms.

Store drinks safely with heat

In the 1860s French microbiologist Louis Pasteur discovered that heating wine and beer killed the organisms that caused spoilage, which was a major problem in France on the time.

This heating process that became often called pasteurizationwas introduced to the United States before World War II, at a time when milk was in charge 25% of all foodborne illness outbreaks within the United States. In 1973, the federal government required that each one milk sold across state lines within the United States be pasteurized, and in 1987 this became the case Prohibition of interstate sales of raw milk.

Pasteurization involves heating each particle of a food to a particular temperature over a continuous time period to kill the product's most heat-resistant pathogen. Different organisms react in another way to heat. Therefore, controlled scientific studies are needed to find out how long a given organism will kill at a given temperature.

Since 1924, the policy has guided pasteurization within the United States Class “A” pasteurized milk regulation.a federal guide that’s updated every two years to reflect the present state of science adopted by all 50 states. Pasteurization equipment within the United States must meet strict requirements, including sanitary design, safety controls, and material standards.

Pasteurization methods

Dairy processors can choose from various kinds of pasteurization. When used accurately, all of those methods result in the identical result: germ-free milk. To provide an extra margin of safety or to cut back bacteria that could cause milk to spoil, processors may treat milk beyond minimum times or temperatures, extending the product's shelf life.

Smaller processors that process limited quantities use so-called Vat pasteurizersalso called batch pasteurizers. The milk is pumped right into a temperature-controlled tank using an agitator, heated to not less than 63 degrees Celsius and kept there repeatedly for half-hour. It is then cooled and pumped out of the vat.

The mostly used method for business milk is High-temperature short-term pasteurizationwith which large quantities of milk could be treated. Milk is pumped at high speed through a series of thin plates to succeed in a minimum temperature of 161 F (71 °C). It then travels through a holding tube for 15 seconds, whereby the temperature is mechanically checked and cooled for safety.

The most complex and expensive systems are Ultra-pasteurizers and ultra-high temperature pasteurizersPasteurize the milk in only a number of seconds at temperatures above 285 F (140 C). This approach destroys many spoilage-causing organisms and provides the milk a significantly longer shelf life than other methods, although products made this fashion sometimes have more of a “cooked” taste.

Ultra-high temperature products are processed in a sterile environment and packaged in sterile packaging comparable to lined boxes and bags. They can last as long as a yr before being opened. Ultra-high temperature packaging makes it protected for kids to take milk to high school for lunch day-after-day.

Bird flu in milk

Detecting avian influenza virus fragments in milk is a brand new challenge for the dairy industry. Scientists don't have an entire picture of the risks to humans, but they’re learning.

Previous research has shown that virus particles enter the milk of infected cows, but that The virus is inactivated by pasteurization. The FDA advises consumers to not drink raw milk because there is proscribed details about it whether it might probably transmit bird flu.

The agency also urges manufacturers not to supply or sell raw milk or raw milk products, including cheese, comprised of milk from cows showing symptoms of illness.

Bird flu occurs time and again in recent speciesand from the start of December 2024 There have been 57 confirmed human cases within the United States. Of these, all but two were individuals who worked with livestock.

Two current cases – a baby in California and an adolescent in Canada – could suggest that young individuals with immature immune systems are more at risk of the virus than adults. While medical researchers are still determining how H5N1 is transmitted, I agree with the FDA that raw milk poses risks that will not be value taking.

Cerebrospinal fluid or CSFis a transparent, colorless fluid that plays a vital role in maintaining the health and performance of your central nervous system. It cushions the brain and spinal cord, delivers nutrients, and removes waste products.

Despite their importance, problems related to cerebrospinal fluid often go unnoticed until something goes unsuitable.

I’m a Neurologist and headache specialist. In my work with patients with CSF pressure disorders, I actually have seen many alternative manifestations of those conditions. Here's what happens when your cerebrospinal fluid stops working:

What is cerebrospinal fluid?

CBF consists of Water, proteins, sugars, ions and neurotransmitters. It is principally produced by a network of cells that Choroid plexuswhich is positioned within the ventricles or cavities of the brain.

The choroid plexus produces approx. 500 milliliters of cerebrospinal fluid each daybut within the central nervous system only about 150 milliliters are present at anybody time, because the brain is always being absorbed and replenished. This fluid circulates through the Ventricles of the brainThe Central canal of the spinal cord and the Subarachnoid space across the brain and spinal cord.

CSF has several critical functions. It protects the brain and spinal cord from injury by absorbing shock. Suspending the brain on this fluid reduces its effective weight and prevents it from being crushed by its own mass. In addition, CSF helps maintain a stable chemical environment within the central nervous system, facilitating the removal of metabolic waste and the distribution of nutrients and hormones.

When the production, circulation, or absorption of cerebrospinal fluid is impaired, it might probably cause significant health problems. Two necessary conditions are cerebrospinal fluid leaks and idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

Cerebrospinal fluid leak

A Cerebrospinal fluid leak occurs when fluid escapes through a tear or hole within the dura mater – the tough outermost layer. the meninges that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

The dura will be damaged by head trauma or punctured during surgical procedures involving the sinuses, brain, or spine, corresponding to a lumbar puncture, epidural, spinal, or myelogram. Spontaneous CSF leaks can even occur with none identifiable cause.

Originally it was assumed that CSF leaks were relatively rare. Incidence of 5 per 100,000 peopleHowever, with increasing awareness and advances in imaging, healthcare providers are discovering increasingly more leaks. They are likely to occur more steadily in middle-aged adults and are more common in women than in men.

Risk aspects for the disease include connective tissue diseases corresponding to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for healthcare providers Misdiagnosis of a CSF leak than one other disease, corresponding to migraines, sinusitis or allergies. What can Diagnosis of a CSF leak difficult is the broad symptomatology. Most individuals with a CSF leak have a Positional headache This improves when lying down and gets worse when standing. The pain often occurs at the back of the top and might extend to the neck and between the shoulder blades. In addition to the headache, patients may experience ringing within the ears, visual disturbances, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, dizziness and nausea.

Imaging might help with diagnosisincluding an MRI of your brain or entire spine, or a myelogram of the space surrounding your spinal cord. Characteristics of a CSF leak which are visible in a scan are your Brain sags within the skull base and a fluid accumulation outside the dura. However, it’s estimated In 19% of patients with a CSF leak, the scans are normalsubsequently, it can’t be completely ruled out that there’s a leak if there are not any signs in the images.

Conservative treatment If you have got a CSF leak, you need to rest, lie flat, and drink more fluids to offer your spine time to heal the puncture. Increasing your caffeine intake to the equivalent of three to 4 cups of coffee a day can also help. increasing CSF production by stimulating the choroid plexus. Caffeine also relieves pain by interacting with Adenosine receptorswhich play a key role within the body's pain perception mechanisms.

If a conservative approach isn’t successful, Epidural blood patch could also be crucial. This procedure involves drawing blood out of your arm and injecting it into your spine. The injected blood might help form a covering over the outlet and promote the healing process. The headache may improve quickly, but when the patch doesn’t work or the outcomes are short-lived, additional tests could also be needed to raised locate the positioning of the leak. In rare cases Surgery could also be beneficialMost patients with a CSF leak reply to some form of those treatments.

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a condition through which excess cerebrospinal fluid increases pressure within the skull and compresses the brain. The term “idiopathic” signifies that the reason behind the increased pressure is unknown.

Most patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension have a History of Obesity or recent weight gain. Other risk aspects include taking certain medications corresponding to tetracycline, excessive vitamin A, tretinoin, steroids and growth hormones. Overweight middle-aged women are 20 times more likely Patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension are diagnosed at a better rate than other patient groups. As obesity becomes more prevalent, the incidence of this disease can be increasing.

Patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension typically experience Headaches and visual disturbancesTinnitus or eye pain. Papilledemaor swelling of the optic disc, is the standard finding in a Funduscopic examination the back of the attention. Doctors can also observe paralysis of the patient's eye muscles.

Brain imaging in patients with suspected idiopathic intracranial hypertension is crucial for Exclusion of other causes of increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure, corresponding to brain tumors or blood clots within the brain. Lumbar puncture or spinal puncture Measuring the pressure and composition of the cerebrospinal fluid can be crucial for diagnosis.

Since high intracranial pressure can damage the optic nerve and result in everlasting vision lossThe most important goal of treatment is to scale back pressure and preserve the optic nerve. Treatment options These include weight reduction, dietary changes and medications to scale back cerebrospinal fluid production. Surgical procedures can even reduce intracranial pressure.

Future directions and unknowns

Cerebrospinal fluid is important for brain health. Despite advances within the understanding of CSF-related diseases, some features remain unclear.

The exact mechanisms resulting in conditions corresponding to CSF leaks and idiopathic intracranial hypertension should not fully understood, but there are many theoriesFurther research is required to enhance diagnostic accuracy and supply more practical treatments for cerebrospinal fluid disorders.

Recent reports say that the H5N1 bird flu virus has been present in cow's milk Questions raised about whether the U.S. milk supply is drinkable. According to the Federal Food and Drug Administration, the reply is yes. so long as the milk is pasteurized.

Nonetheless, Sales of raw (unpasteurized) milk have increaseddespite warnings from health experts that it could contain raw milk high concentrations of the virustogether with many other pathogens.

As Extension Food Scientist in a state where the sale of raw milk is legalI provide technical support to assist processors produce top quality and secure dairy products. I also wish to help people understand the confusing world of pasteurization methods on their milk labels and why experts strongly advise against consuming raw milk and products constructed from it.

What could make milk unsafe?

Dairy products, like many foods, pose risks that may lead to numerous illnesses and even death. Our milk comes from animals that graze outdoors and live in stables. The milk is picked up from the farm by tanker trucks and delivered to the processing plant. These environments provide quite a few opportunities for contamination by pathogens that cause disease and organisms that cause food spoilage.

For example, Listeria monocytogenes comes from environmental sources akin to soil and water. Mild infections with listeriosis cause flu-like symptoms. Unfortunately, more serious cases are too common and might result in miscarriages in pregnant women in extreme cases even death.

Other pathogens commonly related to dairy animals and raw milk These include E. coliwhich may cause serious gastrointestinal infections and result in kidney damage; Campylobacter, the leading reason behind diarrheal illness within the United States; And Salmonellawhich cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and other symptoms.

Store drinks safely with heat

In the 1860s French microbiologist Louis Pasteur discovered that heating wine and beer killed the organisms that caused spoilage, which was a big problem in France on the time.

This heating process, generally known as pasteurization, was introduced within the United States before World War II, at a time when milk was the norm 25% of all foodborne disease outbreaks within the US. In 1973, the federal government required that every one milk sold across state lines within the United States be pasteurized, and in 1987 this became the case Prohibition of interstate sales of raw milk.

Pasteurization involves heating each particle of a food to a selected temperature over a continuous time period to kill the product's most heat-resistant pathogen. Different organisms react otherwise to heat. Therefore, controlled scientific studies are needed to find out how long a given organism will kill at a given temperature.

Since 1924, the policy has guided pasteurization within the United States Class “A” pasteurized milk regulation.a federal guide that’s updated every two years to reflect the present state of science and was adopted by all 50 states. Pasteurization equipment within the United States must meet strict requirements, including sanitary design, safety controls, and material standards.

Pasteurization methods

Dairy processors can choose from several types of pasteurization. When used accurately, all of those methods produce the identical result: pathogen-free milk. To provide a further margin of safety or to scale back bacteria that may cause milk to spoil, processors may treat milk beyond minimum times or temperatures, extending the product's shelf life.

VAT pasteurizers, also called batch pasteurizers, are sometimes utilized by smaller processors that process limited quantities. The milk is pumped right into a temperature-controlled tank with an agitator, heated to at the very least 63 degrees Celsius and kept there repeatedly for half-hour. It is then cooled and pumped out of the vat.

The mostly used method for industrial milk is High-temperature short-term pasteurization, which will be used to treat large quantities of milk. The milk is pumped at high speed through a series of thin plates to achieve a minimum temperature of 71°C. It then travels through a holding tube for 15 seconds, whereby the temperature is robotically checked and cooled for safety reasons.

The most complex and expensive systems are Ultra-pasteurizers and ultra-high temperature pasteurizers, which pasteurize milk in only a couple of seconds at temperatures above 285 F (140 C). This approach destroys many spoilage-causing organisms and provides the milk a significantly longer shelf life than other methods, although products made this fashion sometimes have more of a “cooked” taste.

Ultra-high temperature products are processed in a sterile environment and packaged in sterile packaging akin to lined boxes and bags. They can last as long as a yr before being opened. Ultra-high temperature packaging makes it secure for youngsters to take milk to highschool for lunch on daily basis.

Bird flu in milk

Detecting avian influenza virus fragments in milk is a brand new challenge for the dairy industry. Scientists don't have an entire picture of the risks to humans, but they’re learning.

Previous research has shown that virus particles enter the milk of infected cows, but that The virus is inactivated by pasteurization. However, the FDA advises consumers to not drink raw milk because there is proscribed details about it whether it will probably transmit bird flu.

The agency also urges manufacturers not to provide or sell raw milk or raw milk products, including cheese, constructed from milk from cows that show symptoms of illness.

There's never a superb time to get a foodborne illness, and that is the start of it Ice season. At a time when bird flu is emerging in recent species and scientists are still determining the way it is transmitted, I agree with the FDA that raw milk poses risks not price taking.