CHARLTON, N.Y. — Concerns over raw milk have intensified following reports that a child in California is being tested for bird flu after consuming the unpasteurized product. This development has prompted officials to consider inspecting raw milk for the virus.
Willow Marsh Farm in Charlton, a prominent producer of raw milk in the Capital Region, sells hundreds of gallons of raw milk weekly. Chuck Curtiss, one of the co-owners of Willow Marsh Farm said, “This is a food product, just as it came from the cow and so all we do is filter and cool it. So it’s a fully unprocessed product. And that’s very attractive to, you know, consumers.”
However, epidemiologist Dr. Syra Madad warned that raw milk could be a vehicle for bird flu. “The virus is in the udders of the cattle and once they are milked, the milk is essentially teeming with bird flu virus, a very high viral load in unpasteurized raw milk,” said Dr. Madad. She noted that the child in California is being tested for bird flu after drinking raw milk…