On Mar. 14, 2025, a survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) reported that although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) located H5N1 bird flu virus in samples of raw, or unpasteurized, milk in tests in four states in April 2024, and bird flu has been detected in commercially sold raw milk, many Americans do not know that consuming raw milk and its products poses greater health risks than consuming pasteurized milk and its products, especially for children. Consuming raw milk can expose one to Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Listeria, and Brucella – and, potentially, H5N1 bird flu.

According to the survey, a majority of U.S. adults (56%) knows that drinking raw milk from cows, sheep, or goats is less safe than drinking pasteurized milk. But over 4 in 10 Americans either are not sure (25%), think raw milk is “just as safe to drink” as pasteurized milk (12%) or think it is “safer to drink” (6%). The survey, conducted Jan. 30-Feb. 10, 2025, among more than 1,700 empaneled U.S. adults, also finds that two-thirds (66%) do not know that children are more vulnerable than adults to getting sick from the viruses and bacteria that can occur in raw milk.

As of March 10, 2025, 70 confirmed U.S. cases of H5 bird flu have been detected in people in 13 states, nearly all from exposure to infected poultry or dairy herds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One death from bird flu has been reported, involving a patient in Louisiana. To date there have been no reported cases of human-to-human transmission.

Almost a quarter of people (22%) say drinking raw milk increases the chances you will get H5N1 or bird flu, up from 15% in July 2024, though this is unchanged from November 2024. An equal number (22%) say drinking raw milk has no effect one way or the other on whether you will get bird flu, though fewer people believe that today than in November 2024 (35%). Over half of those surveyed (53%) are not sure what effect drinking raw milk has on getting bird flu, up from 43% in November 2024.

To date, the FDA has prohibited the interstate sale of raw milk since 1987, but 30 states in the United States allow its sale in some form.