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.

Scientists already discovered that raw milk can harbor the infectious H5N1 bird flu virus, but now there’s a new study on its capabilities that has health officials concerned.

Without a new policy including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every flock with a bird flu infection to limit the spread of the disease. Those deaths have totaled over 166 million birds in the U.S. since 2022.

The US Department of Agriculture has approached Danish producers to sell eggs to replenish store shortages. The shortage is due to bird flu, which has severely impacted American chickens. What do you need to know?