Sales of raw cow’s milk are rising as health influencers believe it will protect them from bird flu

Sales of raw milk are rising in the US, despite warnings from health officials that it could lead to people becoming infected with bird flu.

Market sales data shows that 65 percent more raw milk was purchased in the U.S. last week compared to the same period last year.

The CDC issued an official warning last month telling people not to consume raw milk because it has not been pasteurized, a process in which milk is heated and then quickly cooled to kill microbes.

But the alarm appears to have had the opposite effect, with sales increasing 21 percent compared to the previous seven-day period. One farm in California says it can barely keep raw milk on the shelves because it has become so popular.

Influencers post online urging people to consume raw milk, saying it can boost the immune system.

In a message from William Trebing, a South Carolina native who also claims to be a chiropractor, he writes: ‘(Raw milk is) the perfect solution to PREVENT the “Bird Flu”.

‘It is actually an immune booster to prevent many types of ‘colds/flu’. It’s actually one of the tastiest things you can eat, packed with healing nutrition.”

Mark McAfee, a farmer who sells raw milk in Fresno, California, added that he was getting calls from people asking for raw milk that was actually contaminated with the virus.

“Some people in the raw milk community believe that ingesting infected milk will help build a robust immune system,” he told The Telegraph.

In another post from before the outbreak: glowwithella who has over 355,000 followers, said: ‘(Raw milk) is necessary for supporting and rebuilding the intestinal barrier.

“Which helps keep out all those bad bugs, toxins and pathogens.”

Raw milk is milk that comes directly from a cow’s udder and has not undergone a pasteurization process.

As a result, it is much more likely to cause illness and hospitalizations linked to dangerous bacteria such as campylobacter, listeria, salmonella and E.coli.

This differs from supermarket milk, which has been heated to 71 degrees Celsius and then cooled quickly to kill any microbes lurking in it.

The CDC says raw milk is “one of the riskiest” foods that can be consumed.

They added that before pasteurization took effect in 1924, 25 percent of foodborne outbreaks were linked to milk. Today this figure is less than one percent.

But a plethora of individuals, from gym enthusiasts to housewives and teenagers, are picking up on the trend and drinking the milk.

Dr. Donald Schaffner, a professor of nutritional sciences at Rutgers University, said he “just shook my head” after hearing that people were still consuming raw milk.

Alex O’Brien, safety coordinator at the Center for Dairy Research, added: ‘I liken drinking raw milk to playing Russian roulette.’

Scientists are concerned that if someone drinks raw milk containing ‘live’ bird flu, they could become infected with the virus and potentially cause the disease to acquire new mutations, allowing it to spread among humans.

CDC officials say this is a theoretical possibility if the bird flu virus comes into contact with receptors in a human’s nose, mouth and throat or if it is accidentally inhaled into the lungs.

They point to cases on farms where cats have drunk milk from infected cows, then become infected and died from the disease.

But there have so far been no known cases of humans contracting bird flu from milk, although the disease is believed to have spread to cows only earlier this year.

Mr McAfee, from Raw Farm USA, added that people rushed in ‘like crazy’ to buy the milk after the warnings.

“Everything the FDA tells customers to do, they do the opposite,” he added.

Bonni Gilley, 75, also of Fresno, who raised several generations of her family on raw milk, added that the warnings had encouraged her to buy more milk.

A total of 46 farms in nine states have so far reported bird flu in their dairy herds, although there are fears others may be infected.

Only one person has tested positive for the disease linked to this outbreak — a farmer in Texas — but officials fear others could become infected.

aAbout 4.4 percent of U.S. adults — or nearly 11 million people — drink raw milk, despite the risks, according to experts.

There are a number of videos online urging people to drink the milk of influencers, including a holistic doctor known as ‘Carnivore MD’.

States have different regulations for raw milk, with only some allowing retail sales in stores and others only allowing sales on farms.