Sales of raw milk in the U.S. have risen 21% since bird flu was first confirmed in dairy cattle in late March, according to a report from PBS Newshour, citing new data from research firm NielsenIQ. Why on Earth would people drink raw milk at a time when pasteurization has been shown to kill the virus? Because some people believe intentionally being exposed to H5N1 will give them “immunity” to the disease. Seriously.
Inactive viral remnants of H5N1 have been found in pasteurized milk but the USDA assures consumers it’s safe to drink. Raw milk, on the other hand, is showing “high concentrations” of the virus, according to the USDA, and consuming unpasteurized dairy products right now feels like playing Russian Roulette.
While there have been no known cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus, that has the potential to change if mutations occur. The World Health Organization has globally identified 889 human cases and 463 deaths from H5N1 since 2003, putting the mortality rate at roughly 52%.
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Please don’t drink raw milk at any time, especially not now. Despite claims that there are nutritional benefits to raw milk, that’s simply not true, according to the CDC. The lone claim that holds up is that raw milk tastes better, something that’s obviously a matter of taste. And that’s a really stupid reason to get very, very sick—to say nothing about potentially kicking off a brand new human-centered pandemic that could kill half of everyone infected with it.
