FDA says remnants of bird flu found in 1-in-5 pasteurized milk samples

One-in-five samples of pasteurized milk tested in the U.S. contained remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows, U.S. public health officials said Thursday. 

However, the Food and Drug Administration is announcing the findings said milk sold at grocery stores in the country is safe and that the remnants were like those killed during the milk's pasteurization process.

"To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe," the agency said.

The FDA also said it tested "nationally representative commercial milk sampling," and a greater proportion of the positive results came from milk in areas with infected herds.

The test was conducted by the The bird flu has so far been detected in 33 dairy herds in at least eight states: Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, also according to the FDA.

Roughly the avian influenza virus that has for years sickened millions of wild and commercial birds was detected in dairy cows, according to Fox 5, a Washington, D.C., TV affiliate.