Raw milk cheese may harbor bird flu for months

New research indicates that raw milk cheese can carry the bird flu virus for months, raising concerns about its safety. The study shows that the H5N1 virus remains infectious even after the cheese has aged for the required 60 days. Previous beliefs suggested that aging would eliminate pathogens, but this study found that the virus can survive in cheese made at various acidity levels. The most acidic cheese did not contain live virus, suggesting that increasing acidity may enhance safety. The FDA has tested 110 cheese samples, with 96 showing no live virus. They maintain that pasteurization effectively inactivates H5N1, ensuring the safety of commercial milk supplies.