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Covid is not gone warn experts, ahead of the legislative elections and Olympics Its no longer automatic for people to wear a mask when they are ill, said specialist Dr Benjamin Davido r.classen/Shutterstock
People in France are being advised to self-isolate and wear masks, as an expert warns that Covid is not gone, and hospital cases continue to rise.
People thought that Covid was gone, but thats not the case, said infectious diseases expert Dr Benjamin Davido to FranceInfo, adding that he believes that people should still self-isolate in the event that they have Covid symptoms and/or test positive.
He issued the warning ahead of two events that will see people congregate in large numbers: the legislative elections, and the Paris Olympics.
Its not good news to see Covid in summer, he said, in reference to the fact that respiratory diseases usually spread in winter, when people are indoors more.
His comments come after figures from health authority Sant publique France show a 52% increase week-on-week in hospital emergency visits for Covid-related issues, and 51% more consultations with SOS Mdecins (1,507 between June 3 and 10) - although numbers remain very low compared to during the pandemic.
Read also: Covid-19 in France: Hospital consultations remain low, but rising
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has also said that it is recording a rebound in widespread SARS-COV-2 after a long period of low activity.
Similarly, the World Health Organization has said that Covid is continuing to spread and evolve, with new variants becoming better at escaping vaccination coverage.
Dr Davido added that there have been more hospitalisations since last week" at the hospital where he works, the Raymond-Poincar hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine). Treatments for suspected Covid have continued to rise for the past eight weeks, he said.
As stated hospitalisation numbers are low compared to the peak of the Covid pandemic but the rising numbers may still be cause for concern.
We thought Covid had gone, above all, had become a seasonal disease, but that's not the case. We have several deadlines, Dr Davido said. The first is the legislative elections. We're going to find ourselves queuing in a rather confined fashion at polling stations.
[And] above all, in less than 50 days, we have the Olympic Games. We'd like things to be as controlled as possible.
He said that Covid was not the only concern, with cases of measles also spreading, along with increased reports of dengue fever. The doctor added that he believes people should be more alert and more careful not to spread infection.
Read also: Surge in imported dengue fever cases to France from overseas
Above all, its no longer automatic for people to wear a mask when they are ill, or to test themselves to avoid contaminating people and creating clusters, he said.
Another specialist, Professor Mircea Sofonea, epidemiologist at the University of Montpellier, told AFP that this new rise was predictable, due to immune decline linked to less vaccination and the reduced effectiveness of vaccination over time (although they still offer protection against severe illness).
Dr Davido advised people to isolate when you are symptomatic, to avoid contaminating people", and reminded everyone who can be vaccinated to ensure their boosters are up to date.
As of June 13 - a few days before the end of the latest vaccination campaign - 360,812 people had received a booster dose. Of these, 188,035 of these people were aged 80 or over, show figures from the Direction Gnrale de la Sant (DGS).
The calls for self-isolation and protective gestures come as tech giant Apple announces that its latest iPhone software update will remove the exposure to Covid notifications.
The feature, which launched in April 2020 as the pandemic took hold, sent users notifications if it believed that they had been in contact with someone who was infected. Google also launched a version of the tool.
In France, a government version of the tool, StopCovid - which later became TousAntiCovid - performed a similar task. However, a July 2022 report by computer safety agency CNIL found that the app had not been particularly effective in tracing contacts, and had a marginal usefulness.
The app was paused in June 2023, and has not been updated since.
A scathing new report slams former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for botching the states COVID-19 response saying he erred by bumping state health officials out of the way so he could micromanage the pandemic from the executive office.
Cuomo made an a significant and unnecessary mistake. when he ignored established health department protocols set up to address the virus and took the initiative away from local communities, according to the 262-page report by The Olson Group, a consulting firm.
The state had the plans but did not follow them because the executive chamber wanted to do their own thing, said one official interviewed by the authors. If the state had used the plans that were available and written, then, yes, they would have had the proper plans in place.
But instead we were stuck with all these executive orders.
The report said the Cuomo administration simply abandoned preparedness plans already in place which called for the state health department to take the lead.
For example, the departments long-planned system for providing community-based vaccination sites was thrown out the window, with Cuomo instead dictating that hub hospitals would offer the shots despite not having the capability to do so effectively.
The structures developed through hard-won experience from events including 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy were largely ignored and the states chief executive office served as the central point of the response.
Although decisive actions were widely praised during the early stages of the pandemic, his failure to shift to full incorporation of the states established institutions in coordinating the ongoing response operation resulted in unnecessary confusion at a time when New Yorkers needed clarity.
While the report raps Cuomo for alleged micromanaging, it does not say if his approach led to extra cases for deaths. The Empire State suffered 77,000 deaths during the pandemic.
The report also chided the states reporting of nursing home fatalities, calling it lacking in transparency hitting on one of Cuomos biggest controversies during the health crisis.
While the pandemic overwhelmed the states health and educational systems and brought the business and retail community to its knees, Cuomo didnt help things, the report said.
The state did not consider the appearance of impropriety related to how it was reporting COVID-19 nursing home deaths until the public was already upset, having noticed and reported the discrepancies.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi defended his former boss in a statement Friday, saying the former governor brought the unified force of government to bear during the deadly pandemic.
His daily press briefings were internationally recognized for providing the facts amid a chaotic lack of a national response to this pandemic where 1.2 million Americans lost their lives, Azzopardi said.
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While this report cuts through the political garbage that has consumed the nursing home issue and points out how circumstances were consistent nationwide, its ridiculous to suggest that this pandemic response be treated the same as H1N1 or Legionnaires outbreaks, he said.
The truth is in the numbers, he added. In 2020 New York was number 39 in terms of pro rata nursing home deaths, according to federal stats, and and we went from having the second most deaths because New York was hit first and hardest to 30th.
The release of the report which cost $4.3 million comes on the heels of Cuomos grilling by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, with the GOP majority on the panel accusing him of deflecting responsibility for the order that shuffled sick patients into senior care facilities in 2020.
The report said the scandal was a part of the theme of mistrust in the handling of the pandemic.
However, Ken Girardin, director of research at the Empire Center for Public Policy, called the Olson report little more than a high school term paper about the states handling of the COVID crisis.
The biggest cost incurred by state government was the theft from the unemployment system, Girardin said. There appears to have been zero investigation into the warning signs and failures at NYS DOI.
Asked about the report at a briefing Friday. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had not yet read it but took her own shot at Cuomos handling of the pandemic.
We knew that things had to be done differently, they had to be done better and we had to prepare for the possibility that this would happen again, Hochul said.
She said steps have been taken to better prepare the state, including a bump in funding for the state Office of Emergency Management and a $1.7 billion investment in a new research lab.
Japanese cosmetics and personal care giant, Shiseido Company Limited, announced it is partially terminating its global license agreement with Italian luxury fashion label Dolce & Gabbana (D&G). The license agreement would cease with effect from December 31st, 2021 for all product categories, activities and markets, except France.
Under the agreement, Shiseido had been developing, producing, marketing, and distributing D&Gs make-up, skincare, and perfume products since October 2016, utilising considerable resources. However, the D&G brand failed to make a mark in the booming beauty and grooming market in mainland China, and the cost structure of the agreement undercut Shiseidos toplines. To add to its woes, D&G got mired in controversy in 2018, as its #DGLovesChina advertisement was deemed derogatory to the Chinese people, thereby sparking public outcry and boycott of its products.
The brand took a further hit as the COVID-19 pandemic grounded people at their homes, and shuttered beauty retailers for a prolonged period, thereby derailing demand for luxury beauty and grooming products. Accordingly, 12% of Chinese respondents in a GlobalData 2020 COVID-19 survey said they had stopped buying beauty and grooming products as it was beyond their shopping budget, while another 53% said they were buying products in the low-to-medium price range*.
Shiseido estimates the license termination will translate into an extraordinary loss of JPY35 billion (US$323 million) in its FY2021 results ending December 31st, 2021. The move is a part of Shiseidos WIN 2023 and Beyond strategy to turnaround its business by exiting mass market segments to focus on its high-margin prestige skincare segment. Accordingly, the Japanese beauty MNC divested its low-revenue personal care segment to CVC Capital Partners for JPY160 billion (US$1.5 billion) in February 2021. In May 2021, the company also announced the sale of its North American make-up brands Bare Minerals, Buxom, and Laura Mercier.
Beaut Prestige International S.A.S., the Paris-based subsidiary of Shiseido, which manages Shiseido Group EMEAs (Europe, Middle East and Africa) global fragrance division, and the D&G license will retain the D&G license for the French market, and will continue worldwide manufacturing and distribution of D&G products until January 1st, 2022.
"Shiseido and Dolce & Gabbana part ways as Covid-19 takes toll on luxury cosmetics" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand.
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In a recent study published in BMJ Global Health, a team of researchers conducted a systematic review of major databases and a meta-analysis to examine the reactogenicity and impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines on pregnancy outcomes related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections among women in perinatal or pregnancy stages.
Study:Effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines on maternal and perinatal outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Image Credit:Anuta23/Shutterstock.com
Research suggests that women who are pregnant are more vulnerable to severe SARS-CoV-2 infections, resulting in substantial morbidity and a higher risk of mortality as compared to women of similar age who are not pregnant.
While the COVID-19 vaccine has been the single most effective intervention in limiting the spread of the pandemic and decreasing the severity of infections, a majority of the phase III trials for various COVID-19 vaccines did not include pregnant women, leading to a lack of clarity about the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant women.
Concerns about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines have also resulted in a reluctance among pregnant women to avail of the vaccine.
Furthermore, existing reviews and observational studies have focused only on maternal infection and short-term outcomes or on specific countries or regions, making the findings less relevant and difficult to apply globally.
In the present study, the researchers conducted a systematic review to comprehensively assess the impact of any COVID-19 vaccine on outcomes related to SARS-CoV-2 infections, reactogenicity, or maternal and infant health when administered to women before or during pregnancy.
All major databases, including websites and preprint servers that contained studies on COVID-19, were searched for relevant studies reporting on the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women. The researchers also contacted groups conducting surveillance studies among pregnant women who had received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The review included studies with comparative cohorts and a test-negative design that reported both unadjusted and adjusted effects of the COVID-19 vaccine on women who received it either before or during their pregnancy.
The study population in these studies consisted of pregnant women exhibiting symptoms similar to COVID-19, and the examined outcomes included SARS-CoV-2 infections in mothers and outcomes related to maternal hospital admissions. The outcomes also included COVID-19-like illness in the neonates.
Women who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were included in the case-cohort, while those that did not were in the control cohort. The vaccination status of the individuals in both cohorts was assessed.
The information extracted from the studies consisted of the study design; the SARS-CoV-2 variant that was predominant at the time; the study setting; adjustment variables such as body mass index, age, gestational age, diabetes, educational levels, and hypertension; the vaccine type and platform; number of vaccine doses; and stage of pregnancy during vaccination.
Infection-related outcomes extracted from the studies included the number of vaccinated or unvaccinated women; maternal SARS-CoV-2 diagnosed before pregnancy; hospital admission, severe COVID-19, or death due to COVID-19 among mothers; and outcomes in offspring such as infection within six months of birth.
Pregnancy-related outcomes in mothers included preterm birth, miscarriage, postpartum hemorrhage, cesarian section, hypertensive disorders, and gestational diabetes. Outcomes in offspring comprised admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU), stillbirth, small size for gestational age, and neonatal death.
The study found that COVID-19 vaccines effectively protected pregnant women from SARS-CoV-2 infections and associated complications with no serious adverse effects. COVID-19 vaccination also appeared to lower the risk of hypertensive disorders among pregnant women and the need for a cesarian section or admission to the neonatal ICU.
The commonly reported side effect after vaccination was pain at the injection site. The meta-analysis reported that pregnant women who had completed the COVID-19 vaccination regimen had 61% lower odds of getting SARS-CoV-2 infection during their pregnancy and 94% lower probability of requiring hospital admission due to COVID-19.
The adjusted cohort studies showed that there was a 12% lower risk of hypertensive disorders during the pregnancy and a 9% lower probability of cesarian section among vaccinated pregnant women. Infants born to vaccinated women also had an 8% reduction in the need for admission to neonatal ICU.
Overall, the study found that COVID-19 vaccinations administered to mothers either before or during the pregnancy had no adverse outcomes related to the pregnancy or the offspring.
Furthermore, it significantly reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 requiring hospital admission and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections among pregnant women. COVID-19 vaccines also lowered the risk of pregnancy-related hypertension or the need for cesarian section or neonatal ICU admission.
Journal reference:
Fernndez-Garca, S., del Campo-Albendea, L., Sambamoorthi, D., Sheikh, J., Lau, K., OseiLah, N., Ramkumar, A., Naidu, H., Stoney, N., Sundaram, P., Sengupta, P., Mehta, S., Attarde, S., Maddock, S., Manning, M., Meherally, Z., Ansari, K., Lawson, H., Yap, M., Kew, T. et al. (2024). Effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines on maternal and perinatal outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Global Health, 9(4), e014247. doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh2023014247. https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/4/e014247
COMMENTARY
Despite attempts to put COVID-19 on the back burner, the economic and societal effects linger especially for lower income workers and small business owners who were disproportionally affected. Many agree that the pandemic worsened political fissures and view the country as more divided. Some of those hardest hit have become more suspicious with regards to the medical profession and governmental interference. Trust the science became the mantra by which pandemic related decisions were made, overriding all other issues including economic, educational, and personal freedoms, including freedom of speech. With the passing of time, some of the decisions made by public health leaders have come into question: for example, Anthony Fauci, MDs admission to the closed door House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in January 2024 that social distancing was arbitrary and not based on science.2
The similarity with COVID-19, which shut down our economic engine with nary a permitted discussion of alternative viewpoints, is eerily replayed with the climate threat, which also has the capacity to dramatically alter careers, financial well-being, and personal freedoms, especially for lower- and middle-income families. Those who disagree on climate issues such as the role of carbon dioxide, the human connection, the environmental dangers of green policy, the inability of alternative energy to power the ever-expanding needs of the grid in the era of artificial intelligence are labeled pejoratively as climate deniers or anti-science, similar to the vilification of anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. Attempts to fully understand the possible consequences of going full speed ahead with a green agenda are met with pending catastrophic scenarios. For those hardest hit, the worry of an increased carbon tax burden, restrictions of goods, increased government interference in their lives before they have fully recovered from the gloom and uncertainty of the pandemic can be overwhelming. Conversely, the hardest hit during COVID-19 carry the least carbon footprint.
Regardless of the catastrophic scenarios painted for both COVID-19 and climate, the American public remains firmly divided. The belief that a common enemy unites does not appear to hold true for either scenario. In our highly politicized and sharply divided country, the trust the science mantra has also lost its validity. Taylor Dotson, who wrote Why Science Cant Settle Political Disputes, cautions that: People act and talk as if a kind of apolitical scientific politics can steer controversial decisions, thus sidestepping or obviating differences in value or world view. The resulting actions and talk are, however, far from apolitical but instead amount to a form of fanaticism. That is, political scientism starkly divides society into friends and enemies, the enlightened and the ignorant.1
Dotson further points out that in a culture dominated by politicians, citizens and policy makers forget how to listen, debate and explore possibilities for compromise or concession with one another. Instead, we come to believe that our opponents only need to be informed of the correct facts or truths.1
COVID-19 changed our focus from the existential threat of climate to the critical crisis at hand.Psychiatric leaders believe it is their obligation to warn Americans about the urgency of climate and to educate Americans about the correct facts or truths,1 but strategies that worked prepandemic may not be effective in our postpandemic mindset. Given the fragility of our economic situation and disparate hardships to be faced by certain segments of the population during a formidable transition to green energy, it may be the time to take pause and fully explore the consequences of going forward like a bull in a china shop. It is possible to achieve the end game of mitigating climate without repeating the mistakes made in the management of COVID and, at the same time cause the least amount of harm to vulnerable Americans.
Dr Varas is a psychiatrist in Westwood, New Jersey.
Reference
1. Dotson T. Why science cant settle political dispute. The MIT Press Reader. September 29, 2021. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/why-science-cant-fix-politics
2. COVID Select Subcommittee Releases Dr. Faucis Transcript, Highlight Key Takeaways in New Memo. Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Press release. May 31, 2024. https://oversight.house.gov/release/covid-select-subcommittee-releases-dr-faucis-transcript-highlights-key-takeaways-in-new-memo/
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Less than 20% of reused filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) collected from nurses amid the COVID-19 pandemic were in good enough condition to undergo sterilization, after which none retained at least 94% filtration of aerosol particles, finds a laboratorystudy comparing two sterilization methods after up to 15 to 30 days of use.
For the study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, a University of Sao Paulo-led team in Brazil used a chambered box and an emitted aerosol to evaluate the physical characteristics and post-sterilization filtration of a 5-centimeter (2-inch) square fragment from each of 100 reused FFRs (eg, N95s) collected from nurses who cared for COVID-19 patients at three hospitals.
Untorn respirators that filtered at least 94% of aerosolized particles and had an attached nasal clip and elastic bands and no visible dirt were randomly assigned to receive or not receive mechanical cleaning with an ultrasonic washer before undergoing hydrogen peroxide plasma gas sterilization.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shortage of Filtering Facepiece Respirators (FFR), leading to prolonged use and reuse of FFRs," the authors noted. "There was also an effort to sterilize FFRs aiming to increase the safety of healthcare professionals as it was thought that sterilization could reduce self-contamination and protect the environment from excess contaminated waste."
Of the 1,055 FFRs, over 85% retained secured nose clips, preserved strap elasticity, and no tears. But over 78% of samples were dirty (eg, from makeup), leaving only 19.6% eligible to undergo sterilization. None of the FFRscleaned or uncleanedreached minimum filtration after sterilization, although 72% of the uncleaned FFRs and 80% of the cleaned devices achieved 90.0% to 93.9% filtration.
Sterilization processes using hydrogen peroxide plasma gas, both with and without prior cleaning, applied to 100 FFRs with preserved functionality, did not compromise the apparent physical characteristics of these respirators, but did not maintain their filtration levels to the minimum necessary to be considered safe.
"Sterilization processes using hydrogen peroxide plasma gas, both with and without prior cleaning, applied to 100 FFRs with preserved functionality, did not compromise the apparent physical characteristics of these respirators, but did not maintain their filtration levels to the minimum necessary to be considered safe," the researchers concluded.
The Kansas Attorney General is suing Pfizer amidst claims the firm engaged in 'false and misleading marketing' over the Covid-19 vaccine.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, AG Kris Kobach accused the New York-based pharmaceuticals giant of downplaying the risks associated with the jab and making unsubstantiated claims about its effectiveness.
Kobach claims Pfizer violated the Kansas Consumer Protection Act with its allegedly false statements about the drug.
It is unknown how much the state is looking to be compensated.
'Pfizer made multiple misleading statements to deceive the public about its vaccine at a time when Americans needed the truth,' Kobach said in a statement.
The suit - filed in the District Court of Thomas County - alleges that Pfizer started hiding evidence as early as 2021, shortly after the vaccine's release.
It is accused of burying evidence showing the link between the jab and pregnancy complications, such as miscarriage and a condition that causes inflammation around the heart known as myocarditis and pericarditis.
Pfizer released a statement claiming the suit has no merit.
'The representations made by Pfizer about its COVID-19 vaccine have been accurate and science-based,' Pfizer said.
In 2021, myocarditis and pericarditis were added as side effects to the vaccine's label. These conditions are rare, and often occur in adolescent males.
Meanwhile a 2023 review of 21 studies by the U.S. National Institutes of Health found no link between the Covid vaccine and miscarriage.
The state also claims Pfizer falsely claimed their vaccine was highly effective against additional variants, and that it would prevent both illness and transmission.
Kansas is not the only state suing Pfizer. Texas AG Ken Paxton filed a similar lawsuit against the drugmaker last year.Pfizer also claimsthat pending litigation has no merit.
Koback said other states are following Kansas's lead and will be suing Pfizer soon.
The Pfizer vaccine was developed with German partner BioNTech for the original strain of the virus.BioNTech is not a defendant in the case.
Government data shows around 81 percent of the US population has received at least one dose of a Coronavirus vaccine after the pandemic triggered a race to get jabbed.
Now that avian influenza is circulating among dairy cattle in at least 12 states in the U.S. and has infected three dairy workers, health experts are keeping a close eye on whether people can be infected from consuming infected milk or meat.
So far, the federal government maintains that the risk of getting infected is low for the general public, and that commercially sold milk remains safe to drink. Thats despite the fact that U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that about 20% of milk sold in stores contains fragments of the bird flu virus H5N1. Those fragments so far are not active, however; researchers report that they could not generate any live virus from them in the lab, and animals exposed to them did not develop infections.
Both agencies also say that pasteurization, or heating milk, inactivates the virus. But the timing of the pasteurization and the amount of virus in the milk before it's treated are important to understanding how effective heat-treating can be.
In a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the University of California, Los Angeles wanted to better understand how well the process can inactivate H5N1. They tested raw milk treated at two different temperatures63C (145F) and 72C (161F)which are typically used to pasteurize milk for retail markets.
Read More: We Are Not Safe from Bird Flu Until We Protect Farmworkers
The good news is that at the lower temperature, heat inactivated the virus in raw milk within two minuteswhich means that commercial pasteurization, which generally heats milk to 63C for 30 minutes, should be sufficient to inactivate H5N1. At the higher temperature, the virus was inactivated in most cases after just 20 seconds.
When we did this study, there was no information on H5N1 in milk because it had never been observed before, so our starting point was building information on how well these viruses get inactivated by pasteurization, says Vincent Munster, chief of virus ecology in the Rocky Mountain Laboratories of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. This is the first study looking at the stability as well as inactivation and efficiency of heat treatment of H5N1 in the lab setting.
While the findings are reassuring that conditions mimicking commercial pasteurization can effectively kill H5N1, the FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture are conducting studies to verify that real-world milk treatment processes do indeed inactivate H5N1. Munster notes, for example, that the effectiveness of pasteurization is both time and dose dependent, meaning the milk needs to be treated for a specific amount of time, and that milk containing higher concentrations of virus may require longer heat exposure to kill all of the virus. Pasteurization facilities often treat milk from farms in multiple states, so batches may have varying amounts of virus. Treating them at the same temperatures for the same amount of time may not always inactivate all of the virus present, if the milk contains a high concentration of H5N1. The next step is to confirm that industrial-scale pasteurization works the way it is supposed to work, he says.
For now, its important to continue learning more about what happens to the virus as it moves from an infected dairy cow and into the milk supply. Even with very efficient inactivation, H5N1 should not be in our milk, says Munster. So we should make an effort to ramp up our countermeasures to prevent H5N1-positive milk from entering dairy processing plants. If we dont have H5N1 in the milk, we wont have to inactivate it.
COVID-19 JN.1 variant detailed by World Health Organisation
Bird flu virus particles were able to survive milk pasteurization, a new study shows, fueling fears of an outbreak in humans.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health found that a small but detectable quantity of infectious H5N1 bird flu virus was still present following a common approach to pasteurizing milk, according to the study published on Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The findings were based on experiments run at the agencys lab, not in milk from grocery stores. Officials have not detected infectious viral particles in any supermarket milk samples so far.
This comes as authorities are still identifying new infected herds in this years bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle.
Cow herds across farms in at least a dozen states have tested positive for H5N1 bird flu - with most of those positive tests coming from raw milk samples.
Authorities have subsequently called on states to curb raw milk sales that could spread the virus and have warned consumers against drinking raw milk.
An FDA spokesperson said in a statement: The study reflected experimental conditions, and should not be used to draw any conclusions about the safety of the US milk supply.
Pasteurization typically kills any virus in milk, as it involves treating milk at high temperatures for a period of time to kill contamination.
Previous FDA studies of 297 samples of retail dairy products like milk and yogurt have not turned up results of any infectious virus. Earlier tests only found some harmless fragments of the virus from pasteurization.
Vincent Munster from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said about the new study: These are more or less experimental laboratory conditions. And we think that mechanical pasteurization in dairy farming will probably be more effective than what we do.
But Munster added: Pasteurization methods were developed to actually reduce the amount of viable bacteria in milk to prolong fridge life, so to speak. And theyre not necessarily initially designed to inactivate viruses.
Munster said that adding even five to 10 more seconds of pasteurization could offer the dairy industry a safety buffer when it comes to the bird flu to ensure that theres no active virus leftover in milk.
He said: If you really want to make 100 percent sure theres no active virus, increasing the duration even by like five to 10 seconds of pasteurization would allow you to actually increase that safety margin.
The FDA has said their data shows the pasteurization processes used by US dairy companies are effective at killing H5N1, adding that the US would hesitate to change pasteurization parameters without data to demonstrate a public health need.
An FDA spokesperson said: Sound science is critical to informing public health decisions like those made by the FDA related to food safety and we take this current situation and the safety of the milk supply very seriously.
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