I've studied bird flu for 20 years and here's why I stopped drinking milk..as ... trends now

A top bird flu scientist has declared he is no longer drinking cow's milk amid the alarming outbreak in cattle across American farms. 

Dr Rick Bright, a virologist and former director at the Department of Health and Human Services, revealed his decision on X, warning that the virus - which has infected two Americans so far - could still be active in milk.

'Minor inconvenience to pause my milk consumption while waiting for data,' he said. 'Delayed transparency influenced my decision.

'Having worked with this virus for nearly three decades, I've learnt to respect it and its surprises.'

The worrying comments come days after the FDA revealed traces of the virus have been detected in grocery store milk - including nearly 40 percent sold in stores in Ohio.

Scientists are demanding more evidence from officials to prove that milk is safe after pasteurization, when it is rapidly heated and then cooled to 'kill off' any viruses or bacteria. 

Experts are particularly weary of assurances from public health bosses - as the FDA previously said the virus could not enter the milk supply due to pasteurization.

But Dr Bright said: 'I've spent 27 years studying H5N1 viruses. So, I'm going to wait for data I hope is coming soon from both FDA (pasteurization) and USDA (genomic data and raw milk handling).'

He added: 'When H5N1 [the strain of bird flu] news broke, [I said] "They would have to do a lot of testing before I would drink milk from one of these farms at this point".

Some experts have suggested that the traces detected in milk represented dead virus, which means heating the liquid had effectively killed off the microbes. 

Jeanne Marrazzo, the new director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said

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