Fragments of bird flu virus genome found in pasteurized milk, FDA says

Enlarge / Cows being milked (credit: Getty | Edwin Remsberg)

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced that genetic fragments from the highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 have been detected in the pasteurized, commercial milk supply. However, the testing completed so far—using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)—only detects the presence of viral genetic material and cannot tell whether the genetic material is from live and infectious viral particles...