No, Cow's Milk Reported to Containing Avian Influenza A (H5N1), Injected into Mice, did Not Make Them Seriously Ill!

#STAT - suggestion for correction

(Just a quick note - to highlight an important issue reported about the seeming lethality of H5N1 from raw milk as purportedly evidenced in experimental mice)

A May 30, 2024 article published by Statnews gives an update on bird flu, stating, amongst others:

"A study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that mice fed raw milk known to have come from [H5N1] infected cows made the mice sick enough that they had to be euthanized."

Please kindly correct this. The claim that those mice were "sick enough that they had to be euthanized" is incorrect.

The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine referred to, states something entirely different: the mice were not euthanized because the orally injected milk, purportedly infected with H5N1, made them so sick that this was necessary. Rather, the authors specify (emphasis added)

• "The animals showed signs of illness starting on day 1, including ruffled fur and lethargy."

• "All the animals survived until day 4, when they were euthanized to determine virus titers…"

Thus, the purpose of euthanasia was very clear: it was for research purposes only and had nothing to do with the state of the mice. I don't think the fact that lab mice have "ruffled fur and lethargy" is beyond the ordinary or a sign of something lethal.

Likewise, the Supplementary Material to the article does not mention anything that would indicate the mice were seriously sick. Specifically, there, the section "Oral infection of mice," only states:

• "During recovery from anesthesia, a small volume of milk was observed in the nasal cavity. Animals were observed daily for signs of illness. Fecal samples were collected every day. On day 4 post-inoculation, animals were euthanized, and the following tissues were collected."

(There seem to be some other issues with the New England Journal of Medicine article, but this requires a deeper analysis and explanation.)