Return to Story

General Guidelines and Requirements

First time republishing a Side Effects story? Read our Frequently Asked Questions first for important information.

Side Effects Public Media welcomes the republication of any of our original reporting. However, we require that you do the following:

Credit

1. Credit the reporter as follows: By [reporter name] – Side Effects Public Media.
2. Credit and link back to us in the footer at the end of the piece as follows: "This story was produced by Side Effects Public Media, a news collaborative covering public health."
3. If you republish our photographs or graphics, use the same credits that appear with our images. You are responsible for obtaining any rights for all other pictures and materials not created or owned by Side Effects (such as stock or AP photos).

Editing

1. Side Effects uses AP style. Edit only to reflect relative changes in time or location (for example, changing "yesterday" to "last week" and "Columbia, Missouri" to "Columbia" or "here") or to conform to your newsroom style. You may not pull soundbites to use out of the larger context of the journalistic work.
2. All original links in the story must be included in any republication.
3. Additional edits may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us at sideeffects@wfyi.org if you would like to make changes beyond those described in this section.

For Public Radio and TV Stations

All Side Effects original reporting can be pulled in with the NPR Story API, a feature available on Core Publisher and many other public media web systems. If you're unsure how to do this, contact your station webmaster for more information.

ID Information for NPR API Use
Side Effects Public Media's Station/Organization ID	4780019
This Story's ID (Use "Get NPR Content" Menu)	1250290734

For Other Publications

Online

1. To republish this story, copy and paste the HTML below into the "source" view of your content management system (ex: Wordpress, Drupal, etc). Our tracking tag, embedded at the end of the story, must be included in all republications. The tag tells us who is sharing and viewing our stories.
2. If you choose to rebuild the story in your CMS, be sure to include the tag for the specific story; the HTML is provided in a separate box at the bottom of the page.
3. If you cannot use our tracking tag for some reason, e-mail our editor at sideeffects@wfyi.org.

For Radio/Streaming Audio

For outlets with an existing subscription to PRX, Side Effects prefers that you use it to download stories because of the back end analytics it gives us. For others, we recommend, but do not require, the use of PRX. If you want to use radio stories but do not have access to the platform, get in touch with us at sideeffects@wfyi.org.

Print

You have two options for republishing in print: highlight and copy the page or request an editable (typically MS Word) file from our editor by contacting us at sideeffects@wfyi.org.

Source Code for Republication

Full Story

To republish this story, copy and paste the HTML below into the "source" view of your CMS (ex: Wordpress, Drupal, etc):

<p>The H5N1 bird flu has been common across wild bird populations for the last few years. It led to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/science/bird-flu-aid-animal-welfare.html" class="Link" target="_blank">culling of millions of chickens in the United States.</a></p><p>Now, in sort of a plot twist, the virus has been found in dairy cows for the first time <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01256-5#:~:text=Federal%20officials%20announced%20on%2025,dairy%20herds%20in%20nine%20states." class="Link" target="_blank">this March.</a> There’s also been <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2405371#:~:text=We%20report%20a%20case%20of,noted%20in%20the%20right%20eye" class="Link" target="_blank">one documented case</a> of bird flu in humans.</p><p>Lizzy McGrevy, Side Effects Public Media’s community engagement specialist, spoke with Health Reporter Ben Thorp to discuss the bird flu’s transmission, risks, and impact on food.</p><p><i>This transcript has been edited for length, style and clarity.</i></p><p><b>Lizzy McGrevy: Ben, I have heard a lot of rumors about milk and I need an answer: should I still be requesting whole milk in my lattes?</b></p><p><b>Ben Thorp: </b>The <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/updates-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai" class="Link" target="_blank">FDA recently put out a survey</a> that found one in five retail milks at the grocery store have some signs of the virus. But that virus is not active and scientists say it’s been neutralized by pasteurization. That’s a standard process where milk is heated up before being sold on commercial shelves.</p><p>“The Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention], and the Food and the Drug Administration which oversees dairy inspection in the United States has not expressed any concern about the safety of our milk,” Denise Derrer Spears with the <a href="https://www.in.gov/boah/contact-boah/" class="Link" target="_blank">Indiana State Board of Animal Health</a> said.</p><p>It may be worth mentioning here –– there are always risks associated with consuming unpasteurized milk. And that is especially true now in the midst of this outbreak.</p><p><b>McGrevy: That’s milk - what about other animal products? Should I be worried about beef? What about chicken? Eggs? </b></p><p><b>Thorp</b>: So, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food and safety service sampled ground beef from some of the states where dairy cows have tested positive for the virus. As of May 1st, <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/livestock/h5n1-beef-safety-studies#:~:text=FSIS%20inspects%20each%20animal%20before,to%20a%20safe%20internal%20temperature." class="Link" target="_blank">those tests had all come back negative for the H5N1 influenza virus.</a></p><p>Animals are tested before and after slaughter, so the chance of contaminated meat or eggs is very low according to some of the researchers I spoke to.</p><p>Birds show very clear signs of an infection and many die, making it unlikely that a contaminated chicken would make it into our food supply unnoticed. Part of why we think so much of the milk has been contaminated is because there may be cows that aren’t showing symptoms but are still shedding the virus into milk.</p><p>The USDA of course recommends proper handling and cooking of meats –– that’s always important to mention.</p><p><b>McGrevy: So, right now what is the overall risk to human health?</b></p><p><b>Thorp:</b> The thing to know is that one dairy worker in Texas did become infected with H5N1. iIt showed up as a case of pink eye with no accompanying respiratory symptoms.</p><p>The CDC <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/dairy-worker-bird-flu-case-shows-need-protective-gear-us-cdc-study-shows-2024-05-03/" class="Link" target="_blank">has since advised daily workers to wear protective gear</a> when coming into contact with sick animals.</p><p>A recent NPR report interviewed some experts worried that we may not be testing enough people who work with farm animals to know the extent of the spread.</p><p>But, overall, at this time, the danger to humans is low.</p><p>Virologist <a href="https://www.stjude.org/directory/w/richard-webby.html" class="Link" target="_blank">Richard Webby</a> at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee said H5N1 is still primarily a bird virus.</p><p>“Still, right now the risk for humans is considered to be low. But the more opportunities we get for this virus to sort of try out different hosts, evolve within that host, the more contact there is between an infected animal and humans –– that does raise that risk,” he said. “So, although it’s low, I think the risk has gone up a little bit just because now there is more contact between people and an infected animal. There are clearly more people that are close to dairy cows than there are to wild birds flying up and down above our head.”</p><p><b>McGrevy: Well thanks for talking to me Ben.</b></p><p><b>Thorp: </b>Thank you.</p><p><b>McGrevy: If you have questions you can always write into us and we will try to find experts to answer your questions next time on The Checkup. </b></p><p><i>The Checkup by Side Effects Public Media is a regular audio segment on WFYI's daily podcast, </i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD8CAl_DzhD2rfS8jfFpAzi8I34VpWjq6" class="Link" target="_blank">WFYI News Now</a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Side Effects Public Media is a health reporting collaboration based at WFYI in Indianapolis. We partner with NPR stations across the Midwest and surrounding areas — including KBIA and KCUR in Missouri, Iowa Public Radio, Ideastream in Ohio and WFPL in Kentucky.</i> <div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2024 Side Effects Public Media</div></p>

Tracking Code

Or, if you have already re-created the story in your own CMS, just add this tracking code to the bottom: