• Bird flu has spread widely in poultry, causing egg shortages.
• Virus spillover has occurred in various mammal species, including humans.
• H5N1 does not currently have the ability to spread human to human.

It's not just higher egg prices. The ongoing bird flu outbreak has led to millions of wild bird deaths, slaughtered livestock, hazardous conditions for dairy industry workers, and spillover infections in humans and other mammals.

While there's no sign that H5N1 can be transmitted person to person at this point, some experts worry about the possibility of a pandemic if the virus continues to spread widely.

Here's what you need to know about bird flu.

What is bird flu?

The H5N1 bird flu virus has spread among a variety of bird species, including chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, and many migratory wild birds.

There have also been cases in humans and other mammals, including dairy cows, seals, bears, and cats. Dairy cows have seen the biggest impact among mammals, with 985 confirmed cases in 17 states since March 2024, according to USDA data.

In February, the virus affected a total of 15.83 million birds, with outbreaks reported in 79 commercial and 55 backyard flocks.

Where is the virus now?

The H5N1 virus has spread worldwide, hitting every continent except Australia.

In the US, the most affected states are California and Washington, with 38 and 11 confirmed human cases, respectively.

Who has the bird flu affected?

According to CDC data, there have been a total of 70 human cases since 2024 and one death related to the virus.

Of those cases, 41 were related to exposure to infected dairy cattle, 24 to exposure to infected poultry farm operations, and two to infected backyard flocks, wild birds, or other mammals. The exposure source for three of the cases was undetermined.

Andrew Pekosz, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, recommends avoiding feeding household animals raw, unpasteurized milk products because of the potential for the milk to carry bird flu.

How is bird flu spreading?

Bird flu can spread through direct contact with contaminated animals, water sources, or surfaces.

So far, human exposure to the virus has mainly come from unprotected exposure to infected animals. The virus has not shown the ability to transmit human-to-human. Mild cases may look similar to regular flu infections, with patients showing signs of fever, cough, runny nose, headache, diarrhea, chills, and teary eyes, according to the CDC.

In the poultry industry, when a bird flock becomes infected, "you have to actually put the whole flock to death," Pekosz said.

For dairy cattle, the detection of just one infection in a herd means that the whole herd is taken out of production to prevent contaminated products from leaving the farm.

What is the bird flu infection threat to humans?

The CDC currently considers the risk of H5N1 infection to the public to be low.

"The risk to the general population is essentially zero," said Dr. William Schaffner, former medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

People should exercise caution in their interactions with wild birds and products that could spread infection, such as unpasteurized dairy.

What is the government doing about H5N1 outbreaks?

Under USDA guidelines, farmers must immediately contact authorities and test animals suspected of being infected. Once an infection is detected, the flock is put in quarantine and the infected birds are killed.

On Feb. 26, US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced a $1 billion strategy to curb the bird flu, including expansions to the agency's biosecurity measures and funding for vaccine research.

The CDC is monitoring human infections and has released guidelines for contact with possibly infected animals at the commercial and hobbyist levels.

How is bird flu affecting the economy?

The biggest hit to the poultry economy has been the massive loss in chicken populations, which has resulted in a decrease in egg production in the U.S.

The egg shortage has led to rising prices and dwindling grocery store supplies.

"When this virus enters a poultry farm, it starts to kill chickens almost immediately," Pekosz said. "The eggs or the chickens never really get a chance to even leave the farm before the farmers know that there's an infection going on."

How can people stay safe from bird flu?

The CDC suggests minimizing or avoiding exposure to dead and sick animals unless wearing adequate protective equipment.

While there is no real risk of infection from food products like eggs or chicken, Pekosz said people who are concerned can err on the side of caution and follow USDA cooking guidelines.

"If you follow those recommendations, the bird flu virus will be killed," he said. "So even if in the very, very low possibility that you would get something that's contaminated with H5N1, if you just cook the eggs properly, that virus will be killed and won't pose any harm to you."

"Raw milk is probably the biggest thing that is a concern for people who are not working on cows or at dairy or poultry farms in terms of a risk factor," Pekosz added.

For those with backyard bird feeders or bird baths, Schaffner suggested using surgical gloves when touching water or surfaces where the birds flock and carefully disposing the gloves once done.

How should we expect the virus to evolve?

The virus is beginning to mutate in ways that could make it more equipped to infect humans, but we have some tools to combat it.

"With H5N1, we know we have drugs that will prevent the virus from replicating. We know how to make vaccines that work against influenza viruses. We have a lot of tests that we know work really well in terms of detecting the virus," Pekosz said. "We've had 40 years of research on this virus that allowed us to show that we have a bunch of tools that can be used to minimize the effects of this virus should it become a human pathogen."

That said, an H5N1 pandemic could be devastating.

The risk of the virus mutating to become better at infecting beef cattle appears to be low, according to Pekosz and Schaffner.

Of the dairy cows affected by the virus, most infections have been caused by improper cleaning of milking equipment, and the infection has stayed localized in the cow's milk-producing organs, removing the risk of infection for cattle not involved in milking procedures.

In May 2024, the USDA started randomly testing beef cattle for the virus.

What do people need to keep in mind now?

The influenza vaccine doesn't protect humans against bird flu infection, but the ongoing flu season, which is the worst in 15 years, is a bigger threat right now.

"Bird flu is a theoretical risk. Seasonal flu is a real risk," Schaffner said.

• The amount of calcium in a glass of milk could lower the risk of colorectal cancer, a study on women found.
• Many foods, including seeds, canned sardines, and figs, are high in calcium.
• The studies comes as cases of colorectal cancer in people under 50 rise in the US.

Consuming the amount of calcium found in a glass of milk could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, according to a new study involving women.

That was regardless of whether the calcium came from dairy or non-dairy sources. Foods such as figs, leafy greens, and tofu are among the non-dairy sources of calcium.

In the study published on Wednesday in Nature Communications, the authors said this suggests calcium itself, rather than milk, was the main factor responsible for cutting the risk.

Using dietary and health data provided by more than 542,000 women with an average age of 59 over for around 16 years, researchers from Oxford University studied whether 97 foods affected colorectal cancer risk. They found that consuming an extra 300mg of calcium a day was associated with a 17% lower colorectal risk from the baseline. In the US, the lifetime risk of developing the disease is approximately 4.4% for men and 4.1% for women.

Calcium is commonly known as a mineral the body needs to build and maintain strong bones. But calcium may have a protective effect against colorectal cancer because it binds to bile acids and free fatty acids in the colon, which helps reduce their cancer-causing potential, the study said.

Colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related death in US men and the forth-leading cause in US women, according to The American Cancer Society. The rate of people being diagnosed with the condition has fallen since the mid-1980s, but in people under 55, rates have been increasing by 1% to 2% a year since the mid-1990s.

The link between colorectal cancer risk and diet is well-established, and experts recommending people cut down on ultra-processed foods and red meat, and instead eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. But the new findings could help provide even more targeted dietary guidance.

The study was observational, meaning the researchers didn't intervene in any way, and more research is needed to confirm a link between calcium intake and cancer risk.

"It is difficult to separate the effects of individual nutrients from an effect of milk per se," Tom Sanders, professor emeritus of nutrition and dietetics at King's College London, said.

"We already know that around half of all bowel cancers could be prevented by having a healthier lifestyle, and this new research supports this, with a particular focus on dairy," Lisa Wilde, director of research and external affairs at the charity Bowel Cancer UK, said. If you don't drink dairy milk, there are other ways you can get calcium and still reduce your bowel cancer risk, she added.

Americans should consume around 1,000mg of calcium a day, according to the Office for Dietary Supplements.

Here are six foods that are high in calcium, including some that might surprise you.

Seeds

Some seeds pack a punch when it comes to calcium content.

One tablespoon of sesame seeds, for example, contains 100mg of calcium, while one tablespoon of poppy seeds contains 127mg or around 10% of the daily recommended amount.

They are also high in other nutrients such as fiber and healthy fats.

Whey protein

As well as being high in protein and helping to promote muscle growth, whey protein powder is very high in calcium.

A 1.2-ounce scoop of whey protein powder isolate contains about 160 mg or 12% of the daily recommended amount.

Leafy greens

Leafy greens are rich in many nutrients, including calcium.

One cup of cooked collard greens has 268 mg of calcium, or about 21% of the amount the average person needs in a day. And kale has around 250 mg of calcium per 100g, which is more than the 110mg in 100g of whole milk.

Spinach and chard contain lots of calcium, but they also contain a group of molecules called oxalates that bind to calcium and make it unavailable to our bodies.

Tofu

Whether it's firm, soft, or silken, tofu is also a good source of calcium. 120g of the plant-based protein steamed or fried contains 200mg of calcium.

Edamame beans, which are young soybeans, also contain the mineral.

Canned fish

Canned fish is higher in calcium than fresh fish because it contains bones that have become soft through cooking and can be eaten.

Canned sardines and salmon are particularly rich in calcium, with 60g of canned sardines in oil containing 240 mg, while 85 grams of canned salmon with bones contains 19% of the daily recommended amount.

Figs

Dried figs contain more calcium than any other dried fruit. Just two figs have 100 mg or 10% of the calcium we need each day.

They are also high in fiber, copper, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and vitamin K.

• I tried my regular Starbucks latte with 2%, soy, coconut, almond, and oat milk.
• The only option I wouldn't order again was almond milk, but at least it doesn't cost extra anymore.
• I've been drinking 2% lattes for years, but soy is undeniably my go-to.

I used to pay extra to have my daily lattes made with a non-dairy alternative. At the time, I preferred the taste and often felt better on days I didn't consume as much dairy.

However, the cost of the substitution — often around $0.80 a drink — added up quickly. Eventually, I abandoned the habit and started ordering my lattes with 2% milk.

Luckily, Starbucks stopped charging extra for alternative milks in November, so I decided to give them all another try.

I ordered my standard 2%-milk latte alongside ones made with soy, coconut, almond, and oat milk. Then, I tried them all with and without sugar to compare.

Here's how the lattes stacked up.

Two-percent milk is a classic that's hard to beat.

I wasn't sure if I'd really taste much of a difference between the coffee drinks, so I also brought along a friend who has received training in discerning tastes from a professional sommelier and recipe developer.

He found the 2% latte boring and lacking "personality." Adding sugar made the taste more interesting, but he didn't think he'd order it again.

I've been drinking lattes made with 2% milk for years, and I wouldn't buy one (sometimes two) daily if I didn't like the taste.

This was almost like the experiment's control group for me — something to compare the others to.

Although it didn't end up being the best of the bunch, it's a good choice for purists like me.

Soy milk used to be my go-to.

When I was drinking non-dairy lattes, soy milk was my preferred alternative. I was really looking forward to seeing if it was as tasty as I remembered.

Luckily, it didn't disappoint — I knew I was onto something back then.

My friend described the drink as smoky with chocolate notes. Although I hadn't noticed that before, I'm starting to think the hints of flavor may be why I'm drawn to it.

Sugar detracted from the taste of this one for me, which is also a plus since I'd rather not add it.

The coconut milk made the coffee a little tropical.

I strongly associate coconut with tropical drinks, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a coconut-milk latte. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

In my friend's words, the coconut milk had a dry, caramel taste with a slight acidity.

Adding sugar really brought out the coconut flavor, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your tastes.

For me, a stronger coconut taste was welcome. However, my friend isn't a big fan of coconut and preferred this drink without sugar.

The almond-milk latte didn't wow me.

I like snacking on almonds and was looking forward to a latte with a nutty taste.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it.

There was a distinct almond quality, but it felt a bit watered down. I didn't think the milk added much flavor to the latte, and my friend agreed.

We both thought that adding sugar would dramatically improve the taste, it didn't.

Once I added sugar, the oat-milk latte was decent.

I enjoy Starbucks' iced brown-sugar oak-milk shaken espresso on warm days, so I was looking forward to seeing how oat milk translates into a hot drink.

Unfortunately, I was a little underwhelmed.

My friend said the oat-milk latte almost had a "cigar-smoke flavor," and neither of us liked that very much.

When I added sugar, the flavor was much better — mostly because it largely covered up the oat milk, making it taste closer to a 2% latte.

There was a clear winner for me.

Although I'll still order it occasionally, the 2%-milk latte is no longer my go-to at Starbucks. After just one sip, I knew I'd be going right back to soy.

The delicious — perhaps chocolaty — flavor is perfect without any added sweetener.

Even though the coconut-milk latte wasn't my favorite drink, it was a close second. The tropical, caramelly flavors really work.

With sugar added, the oat-milk drink was also OK, but I didn't like the almond-milk latte and won't be ordering it again.

• California's biggest raw milk brand tested positive for bird flu.
• With a voluntary recall underway, the company has started sending out milk to be pasteurized.
• Raw cheese, kefir, and butter are still being sold.

One of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s favorite raw milk producers is temporarily going pasteurized, as bird flu sweeps across California's dairyland.

Raw Farms is California's largest producer of raw milk products, and a huge name in West Coast wellness circles. This summer, the company partnered with carnivore diet influencer Paul Saladino and trendy LA grocery store Erewhon to produce a $19 raw kefir smoothie.

Now, the company is recalling all of its raw milk and raw cream on store shelves statewide, after initial retail tests of at least two batches of milk turned up positive for H5N1 bird flu.

In the meantime, raw milk produced at the Fresno-based dairy is being processed like regular milk.

"It's going from our dairies directly to a processing plant owned by somebody else to be pasteurized," Raw Farms founder Mark McAfee told Business Insider on Wednesday, adding that the move is a "horrible" one for his bottom line.

"We're getting about 20%" of normal sales revenue, he said.

Raw Farms isn't recalling its raw cheeses, butter, or kefir, and McAfee said that's because those products have been fermented, heated, cultured, or aged, and therefore are somewhat less of a concern to regulators.

Can you get bird flu from raw milk?

It's normal for raw milk to have viruses or bacteria floating around in it. Unlike pasteurized milk, raw milk is not heated to kill pathogens.

That's why the US Food and Drug Administration advises against anyone drinking raw milk. There's a risk of contracting stomach bugs like Salmonella or E. coli, which can cause food poisoning, and in rare cases hospitalization or death. Kids are especially at risk.

It's not clear whether people can actually get bird flu by drinking milk from a sick cow. So far, there have been no reports of raw milk drinkers catching bird flu, but there have been several cases of cats drinking raw milk from cows sick with bird flu, and then dropping dead afterwards.

"Like many foodborne illnesses, illnesses from raw milk are often underreported because many people aren't tested by a doctor in time to identify a pathogen and link the illness to a specific food," the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, the agency that first identified bird flu virus in Raw Farms products in November, told BI in a statement.

The FDA declined to comment for this story, citing an ongoing lawsuit against Raw Farms, which accuses the company of selling raw milk across state lines (that's forbidden under federal law).

A spokesperson for the agency pointed BI to a recent letter to dairy producers nationwide, which mentions that bird flu is a virus, like other viruses, that can't withstand pasteurization.

A bird flu outbreak will not stop the raw milk trend, McAfee says

McAfee is trying to set up some raw milk bottling and processing in another area of the state that isn't as affected by the current H5N1 outbreak as the Central Valley. He said he hopes to start selling raw milk again soon, after performing (and clearing) some additional tests.

"Hopefully, within the next 10 days, we'll have a dairy that's up and going, and products will be flowing from a different area of California," he said.

That would be welcome news to President-elect Trump's pick to head up Health and Human Services next year.

Kennedy has promised to end the FDA's "war" on raw milk. McAfee said he's been tapped by Kennedy's transition team to apply for a position advising the FDA on standards and policy for raw milk production.

"People don't really appreciate the deep science of this," he said. "I do."

He pointed to the latest science that suggests the biggest hazard for bird flu transmission lies not in the milk itself, but in dairy cow udders.

So far, of the 32 human bird flu cases reported in California, 31 have been traced back to cattle exposure.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been warning dairy workers to watch out for raw milk splashing into their eyeballs, and McAfee said his dairy workers wear eye protection.

Bird flu has landed on a California farm that shuns virus-killing pasteurization, leading to a second recall of raw milk and a suspension of operations at the company, Raw Farm in Fresno County.

According to a November 27 alert by the California health department, officials in Santa Clara County found evidence of bird flu virus in retail samples of a batch of Raw Farm's milk, which has been recalled. It is the second time that retail testing has turned up positive results for the company and spurred a recall. The first contaminated batch was reported on November 24. The two recalled batches are those with lot codes 20241109 ("Best By" date of November 27, 2024) and 20241119 (Best By date of December 7, 2024).

In an email to Ars on Monday, Raw Farm CEO Mark McAfee said that none of the company's cows are visibly sick but that it appears that asymptomatic cows are shedding the avian influenza virus.

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• Two batches of raw milk from a trendy California brand have tested positive for bird flu this week.
• Bird flu has been spreading rapidly among cattle in the US.
• Experts say drinking raw milk is dangerous, and can cause food poisoning.

Another batch of raw milk just tested positive for bird flu in California.

Last Sunday, Fresno-based Raw Farm voluntarily recalled a first batch of cream top whole raw milk with a "best by" date of November 27. By Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health announced that a second batch of Raw Farm cream top, with a "best by" date of December 7 had also tested positive for bird flu, based on retail sampling.

"We're not making a big deal about it, because it's not a big deal," Kaleigh Stanziani, Raw Farm's vice president of marketing, said in a short video posted on YouTube after the farm's first voluntary recall was announced earlier this week.

She said there had only been an indication that there might be a "trace element of something possible," emphasizing that there had been no reported illnesses of Raw Farms cows or positive tests from the cattle.

Raw Farm owner Mark McAfee later told the LA Times that the California Department of Food and Agriculture had requested that his company "hold delivery of further products" until Friday, after conducting thorough testing of two Raw Farms and one creamery on Wednesday. (McAfee could not immediately be reached for comment by Business Insider during the Thanksgiving holiday.)

Raw milk may be helping bird flu spread — but not in the way you might think

Scientists suspect that cross-contamination of raw milk between animals may be one reason the H5N1 virus is spreading rapidly among cows in the US — and could even contribute to the human spread of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that dairy workers might be able to contract bird flu by infected raw milk splashed into their eyes.

There is no definitive evidence yet that humans can get bird flu from drinking contaminated raw milk. Instead, health authorities generally recommend avoiding raw milk because of other serious health risks, including food poisoning with bacteria like Salmonella, E.coli, or Listeria.

There are no known health benefits of drinking raw milk. Instead, all evidence suggests that pasteurized milk is just as nutritious, and is safer to consume.

Still, raw milk has become a trendy product among some influencers. Gwenyth Paltrow says she has it in her coffee in the morning.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Trump's pick for Health and Human Services secretary, says he wants the US Food and Drug Administration to stop its "war" against raw milk.

Over the summer, "Carnivore MD" Paul Saladino released a raw milk smoothie in partnership with the elite Los Angeles health foods store Erewhon featuring unpasteurized (raw) kefir from Raw Farms, and powdered beef organs.

California has some of the loosest rules around raw milk in the country; it's generally fine for California retailers like health foods stores and grocers to sell it, raw milk products just can't be transported across state lines, per FDA rules.

Michael Payne, a researcher at the Western Institute of Food Safety and Security, told The Guardian that people consuming Dr. Paul's $19 smoothie were "playing Russian roulette with their health," and ignoring pasteurization, "the single most important food safety firewall in history."

California dairy farms have been seeing an uptick in bird flu cases since August. The state has reported 29 confirmed human cases of bird flu, and all but one of those was sourced back to cows.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first confirmed case of bird flu in a California child from Alameda County. The child had no known contact with infected farm animals, but may have been exposed to wild birds, the California health department said in a statement.

The child had mild symptoms and is recovering well after receiving antiviral drugs.

Bird flu virus has been found in a batch of raw—unpasteurized—milk sold in California, prompting a recall issued at the state's request, health officials announced over the weekend.

No illnesses have yet been linked to the contaminated milk, made by Raw Farm, LLC of Fresno County. The contamination was found in testing by health officials in nearby Santa Clara County, who detected the virus in milk from a retail store. The state laboratory has confirmed the finding.

In a YouTube message from Raw Farm, a company representative called the contamination "not a big deal" and emphasized that the recall is only being done out of an abundance of caution.

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