Marin County health officials warned the public against consumption of raw milk products after they detected a suspected case of bird flu in a child who drank raw milk.
Marin County Public Health said in a statement Tuesday that the child experienced fever and vomiting after drinking raw milk.
The patient has recovered and no other family members became sick, leading health officials to believe there was no person-to-poultry farmperson transmission.
County health officials are investigating this suspected case of bird flu linked to raw milk consumption with the California Department of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state health department issued an alert on Friday to health care providers to evaluate and test for human avian flu or H5N1 in people who develop flu-like symptoms after drinking raw milk.
“Bird flu infections in humans are uncommon but there are ongoing outbreaks in dairy cattle and poultry farms in the United States,” Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County’s public health officer, said in a statement. “The risk to the public remains low, as bird flu spread from person to person is rare.”
According to authorities, there have been 32 confirmed cases of bird flu in California this year. Most bird flu detections in the U.S. have been in poultry and dairy workers who were exposed to sick animals, health officials said.
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