Watching for Mutations of H5N1

With three dairy herds in California now testing positive for high path avian influenza, bringing the total number of states infected to 14, now is not the time to drop our food security guard. Dr. Robert Califf is the Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, and he says his agency's mission is to protect our food today and into the future…

“So surveillance of the milk will be an ongoing issue that we'll need to deal with, because this virus is all around the world in multiple species of birds. Infection of cattle, this is a new thing that we're all just learning about, and it's going to be critical that as we deal with the virus, we try to keep the amount of viruses circulating around to the lowest level possible.”

He says FDA will continue to work with all partners to mitigate risk...

“This is a virus that's been on the top of the list globally for pandemics for some years now, so we have to contain that risk, but also to assure the farming community that no one will be penalized because their herds get infected. And there, we're not the primary player, but we all work together, particularly with the USDA, which has a really major role to play there.”

They continue to watch when and where mutations happen with a keen eye on humans and a constant eye on what could sprout in porcine populations.