What consumers should know about the milk testing positive for bird flu

FILE - In this March 31, 2017, file photo, dairy cattle feed at a farm near Vado, New Mexico. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

Federal officials say the risk to the public remains low after the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that tests of commercially available milk detected traces of bird flu.

The announcement comes amid a national outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) among dairy cows that was first confirmed late last month. The disease, which is very contagious and often fatal in avian populations, has spread to herds in at least eight states. At least one person who was in contact with presumably sick animals also caught the virus.

But government officials and scientific experts say so far there is no evidence of infectious virus in pasteurized milk.