We detected high virus titers in the respiratory organs (which suggests that infection may have occurred through the pharynx) and moderate virus titers in several other organs, findings consistent with the systemic infections typically caused by HPAI H5 viruses in mammals.

Detection of virus in mammary glands of two mice was consistent with the high virus load in milk of lactating cows, even though these mice were not lactating. Collectively, our data indicate that HPAI A(H5N1) virus in untreated milk can infect susceptible animals that consume it.