H5N1 bird flu virus is infectious in raw milk cheese for months, posing risk to public health, study shows

[littlemissmartypants]

H5N1 bird flu virus is infectious in raw milk cheese for months, posing risk to public health, study shows

By Brenda Goodman, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 7:16 PM EDT, Fri March 14, 2025

Raw cheese made with milk from dairy cattle infected with bird flu can harbor infectious virus for months and may be a risk to public health, according to a new study from researchers at Cornell University that was funded by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Raw milk cheeses are those made with milk that hasn’t been heat-treated, or pasteurized, to kill germs.

Although federal law prohibits the sale of raw milk across state lines, sales of raw milk cheese are legal nationwide as long as it’s aged at least 60 days before landing on store shelves. This requirement, which has been in place since 1949, is thought to cut the risk of contamination, since it allows development of natural acids and enzymes, which were believed to kill off pathogens.

The new study shows that this aging process may not inactivate the H5N1 virus, however, and it underscores the risk of consuming raw or undercooked foods during the bird flu outbreak, which continues to infect dairy cattle, poultry and a growing number of other animal species.
Snip...
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/14/health/h5n1-bird-flu-raw-cheese/index.html

❤️pants

[SheltieLover]

1. I wonder how to know if cheeses are made with raw milk?

Ty, Pants!

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Good question, SL! My pleasure. ❤️

[iemanja]

7. I think they are labeled as such. Nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Why on god's green earth would ANYONE

drink raw milk, or give it to their cats. Okay, if you live on a dairy farm and are milking cows daily, that's one thing. I used to live in dairy country in northern New York State, so I sort of get it. But deliberately seeking out raw milk when it's not already in your back yard? It's not as though this is a very recent thing. I've been aware of the problem of raw milk and cats for decades.

Sometimes I feel as if I'm the only person who pays any attention to anything.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. There's a farm less than...

Four miles from me that does a booming business selling it. I wonder many of the same things that you mentioned. I also wonder who's going to stop and inspect these operations in the future because it appears that nobody is doing it now.

❤️

[RockRaven]

5. Example umpteen-thousand of woo-woo orthorexia.

Like the seed oil thing, which has been around for a while but recently thrust into a more mainstream arena. Bullshit plus or minus some scientism, confidently stated.

"I've got the !!!MAGIC!!! food that ~THEY~ don't want you to know about! It is healthy! It will solve your problems! With this one weird trick!" -- [insert dumbass hippie, lunatic conspiracist, and/or grifter name]

[Karasu]

6. Yep. Hell, isn't RFK Jr. pushing this raw milk shit? Along with all his other "Make Americans Die Again to Save Money"

crap?

[Eugene]

9. Crazy Marge Three-Names and other far-right figures promote it.

anti-intellectualism? "alternative health?" Take your pick.

[dirty_abuelita]

10. Raw milk has enzymes

so it helps digest milk. It also is considered more flavorful. Non-homogenized milk products are also sought out by consumers. Ever had yogurt with the cream on top?

[not fooled]

8. "A diseased population is easier to control"

--scholar of authoritarian regimes Ruth Ben-Ghiat.