The California Department of Public Health has announced that a Fresno dairy has recalled all of its unpasteurized whole milk and cream products due to "multiple bird flu detections in the company's milk and dairy in the past week." This comes as the Centers for Disease Control confirmed the 32nd human case of bird flu in the state on Wednesday.

Raw Farm Milk and Bird Flu

The state health department has stated that raw farm milk products have tested positive for bird flu at both retail and dairy storage and bottling sites in the past week. The voluntary recall covers all containers of raw farm milk and cream produced from Nov. 4 to 27. It's important to note that no human cases of bird flu have been linked to these products.

New Case of Bird Flu

State officials have revealed that the new case of bird flu was someone with dairy cow exposure. Interestingly, all but one of California's cases have been dairy or poultry workers with direct exposure to infected animals. The CDC reports that 58 people in seven states have contracted bird flu since the disease was first identified in dairy cattle in Texas in late March.

Bird Flu in California Herds

According to a USDA database, bird flu has been confirmed in 493 dairy herds in California, including 12 on Tuesday. There are approximately 1,100 herds in the state. Nationwide, the disease has been identified in 707 herds in 15 states. This shows the widespread nature of the bird flu outbreak.

Impact on Domestic Flocks

Since the H5N1 avian flu virus appeared in the United States in February 2022, more than 112 million birds in domestic flocks have died of bird flu or in efforts to prevent its spread. The most recent outbreaks include a broiler chicken farm with 237,100 birds in Fresno County, central California, on Tuesday. These outbreaks represent the largest animal disease event in U.S. history.