A Shot Across the Bow: We will be coming down harder on raw milk, starting in the Dempire State.

New York State Working in Close Collaboration with Federal Partners to Develop Surveillance Strategy for Milk Supply Used in Raw Milk Cheese Processing Following Research Conducted at Cornell University

HPAI Has Not Been Found in Any Raw Milk Cheese Available in the Marketplace to Date

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (Department) today announced that it is working together with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), the National Association of Dairy Regulatory Officials (NADRO), and state partners to actively develop an updated surveillance strategy for the milk supply being used in raw milk cheese processing to facilitate the early detection of potential highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus. This follows the release of preliminary results of research conducted by Cornell University, commissioned by the Department and FDA, which suggest that HPAI may survive the 60-day aging process in some varieties of raw milk cheese that is made with raw milk containing HPAI.

Cornell University spiked (added virus to) some raw milk that was made into cheese, which cannot be sold unless it has aged for at least 60 days, and Cornell scientists claim to have found viable virus after the 60 day aging process.

This is quite remarkable.

1. They have never found viable virus in any cheese that may have been infected, but was not spiked, and this is after a year of trying. Bird flu was first found in dairy cows 12 months ago.
2. CDC and USDA both say that avian flu is not a food borne illness. So why are they going so far as to spike the cheese? Isn’t testing cheese made with infected milk sufficient to determine whether the virus lasts for 60 days?
3. Viruses are not like people. We are either dead—or alive. Not so for viruses. They live in large colonies, and the colonies die off very slowly, and their deaths are measured in half lives. A half-life is the time it takes for half the viruses in the colony that were viable, to be nonviable or dead. Let’s say the scientists spiked the sample with a trillion viral particles per ml and a half life is one day. After 1 day there are half a trillion viable viruses. After 2 days a quarter trillion. By ten days we are down to a billion. By 20 days a million. By 30 days a thousand and by 40 days they ought to all be gone. But what if the half life is multiple days? Then we might still have viable virus at 60 days after all.
4. How long can a bird flu, or any influenza A virus live? This article says the virus can live on a surface for hours. This article says up to 2 months in cold temperature and low humidity. Cheese has high humidity. This article says 7-14 days. Follow the science? But okay, maybe an influenza virus can live for 60 days. But can it do so in raw cheese, which contains enzymes and other substances that are claimed to be anti-viral?

So I have some substantial questions.

• Did the scientists test the cheese every so often so see if the viral titers were going down gradually, consistent with half life decay?
• Did they test infected cheese that wasn’t spiked?
• Is the milk they spiked different than the milk being used to make raw milk cheese? For example, might it have been heat-treated or otherwise managed to destroy the enzymes present in it?
• Was the infected cheese fed to lab mice to see if they got sick?
• Why is there no preprint or published paper so we can evaluate the tests that were done?
• Why is there no description at all of the methodology that was used in this experiment, despite the fact it will lead to consequential changes in milk oversight in NY and possibly the entire nation?

Why should we trust the authorities when they conceal important information, and do this over and over again? To regain trust, there must be transparency. Why isn’t the rest of the world going through this rigmarole?