Executive Leader | Telecom Regulatory Affairs | Value Creator | Food Policy | Food Systems
H5N1, or Avian Flu. The hazard lights are on. We need to be vigilant. This article - written by Donald McNeil Jr., a science journalist who has been covering pandemics for 30 years, and wrote a book about how societies manage pandemics - is asking US authorities to be more transparent and proactive in managing what might be another pandemic-in-waiting. Meanwhile, Canadian food safety authorities are ramping up their surveillance of the Canadian dairy production system by testing dairy cattle imported from the US, conducting random sampling of milk products sold at the retail level and continuing to provide assistance to farmers as they test their own animals. Food safety authorities on both sides of border are very clear: pasteurization of milk is 100% effective at killing all viruses in raw milk, including virus fragments. Milk sold at the retail level is safe for consumption. The concern, however, is for farmers who are handling raw milk in their cow barns and the risks that the virus might leap from animal to human in that manner. Again, so far, examples of this are rare and fairly well contained. In Canada, farmers are obligated to report any instance of H5N1 to health authorities. In addition, Canadian dairy farmers are ahead of their US colleagues in tracking the movement of animals from farm to farm, and the testing required. For those concerned about their food, this is one to continue to monitor closely. #food #avianflu #H5N1 #foodsafety
