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.

The fairly recent detection of H5N1 avian flu in dairy cattle, however, raises questions about whether the same process can inactive the virus. The answer appears to be no, in most instances, scientists from Cornell University reported today on bioRxiv,

Scientists are sounding alarms about a genetic mutation that was recently identified in four dairy cow herds, nearly one year after H5N1 bird flu was first reported in Texas dairy cattle.

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.

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