WHO says current public health risk posed by bird flu 'low'

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that the overall public health risk posed by the recent influenza, A(H5N1, is "low."

For those with exposure to infected birds, animals, or contaminated environments, however, the risk of infection is "considered low-to-moderate," it said in a statement.

It stressed that risk assessment might change as the UN agency learns more.

"The virus has been detected in milk and its potential role in transmission is being investigated," it said, advising people to consume pasteurized, not raw milk.

The US Food and Drug Administration recently said one in five commercial milk samples tested in a nationwide survey contained particles of the H5N1 virus.

The avian flu was first identified in Texas herds in March, with subsequent findings indicating the presence of the virus in more than one dozen additional herds across eight US states.

The latest data on milk samples showed the outbreak is more widespread in the US than previously thought.