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Pasteurization destroys H5N1 bird flu in milk

Heat inactivation killed the virus, but inactive viral proteins remained

Milk in a silver vat being prepped for pasteurization.

Pasteurizing milk (shown) inactivates H5N1 bird flu, a new study confirms.

Andrii Lysenko/Getty Images

By Jay Kakade

Pasteurization completely inactivates the H5N1 bird flu virus in milk — even if viral proteins linger.

Drinking properly pasteurized milk contaminated with avian influenza remnants won’t increase vulnerability to the infection, researchers report in September 26 in Science Advances.