Bird flu is hit by chickens across the country, causing Shortage and pushing prices in retailers and restaurant. Last week, one of the largest egg producers in the country said the hens on one of her farm Indiana tested positive for bird flu.
Scientists stressed that bird flu still represents a minimum risk for the general public, although this can change how the virus is constantly orbiting and potentially mutate. But many empty shelves in stores and higher prices On the eggs that people can find, there were concerns about consumers about the safety of egg supply.
At this point, experts say it is unlikely that an egg contaminated by bird flu would get into food stores. Federal regulations require that commercially wrapped eggs be washed and disinfected, helping to remove the virus particles from the outside of the shell.
The virus itself also quickly a sick hen. Egg producers to notice the first infected birds can react by spending the rest of the flock. And all infected birds would probably die of their disease before they could produce contaminated eggs.
“Dead birds don’t throw eggs,” Dr. Gail Hansen, a veterinary health expert and a consultant in Washington, DC, when the virus affects the herd, its eggs are usually removed from food supply.
Scientists are still trying to find out whether people can infect bird flu by consuming or drinking products contaminated by a virus. Most of the at least 66 people infected in the United States since 2024 have been infected by the virus by contact with sick animals.
Yet it seems likely that the virus can be transmitted by certain foods: Monkeys have become ill After drinking raw milk containing a virus. Cats died after consuming tight milk and Uncooked pet food.
The virus is particularly prevailing udder cowsWhich means that unpasteurized milk may contain high concentrations of virus, said Stacey L. Schultz -cherry, a virologist and flu expert at the St. Jude. Less virus can end up in eggs, although it is difficult to say without comparative studies, said Matthew Moore, associate professor of food science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. But even if you have somehow made a thing “rocky” and you have just ate it, “the probability of contracting bird flu from the egg” is still quite low, “he said.
If you want to be extremely careful, pasteurized egg products are – such as liquid egg whites that come in cardboard – considered safe because pasteurization inactivates the virus.
And thoroughly cooking eggs kills a virus. Centers for inspection and prevention of diseases recommend cooking eggs at an internal temperature of 165 degrees, which means that egg yolks should be solid and that mixed eggs should not be a cold.
“The point is that if people use good practices for food handling and fully cook their eggs according to recommendations, then the risk is extremely low,” Dr. Meghan Davis, veterinarian and environmental epidemiologist at the school of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Health.
Experts also recommend measures to safety food for common sense: If you manipulate with raw eggs, wash your hands thoroughly and clean all the surfaces of cooking or pelvis with soap and water after use.
And resist the temptation to catch a spoonful of raw dough for biscuits or dough on the cake – not only to minimize any potential risk of bird flu, but to avoid much more common pathogens such as SalmonellaThis can cause food poisoning. These infections can be particularly serious for small children, older adults, pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised – But they can get anyone who will feel unhappy for a few days.
“These are really strong reasons to still remind people of the eggs correctly,” Dr. Moore. “Especially if you spend a lot of money on them – don’t leave diarrhea.”
