According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, avian influenza, or bird flu, has been found in dairy cattle in several parts of the country.

“It’s been an emerging health problem that was identified first down in Texas, and it's been confirmed in two other states so far," said Robert Lynch, a dairy herd health extension specialist at Cornell University.

Bird flu is primarily found in wild birds, but has now been detected in a dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas.

"The farm would notice that in about 10% of the cows on their dairy would suddenly stop eating, would [see a] dramatic decrease in their milk production," Lynch said.

While deadly for birds, it doesn’t have that same effect on cows. 

"These cows recovered, usually takes, you know, about two weeks or so, and they recover from the illness," he said. "They haven't had any deaths as a result of this disease."

Acknowledging the concern over milk production, Lynch doesn’t see it as a huge concern yet. As for the dairyproducts you’re consuming, he says you shouldn’t be worried either. 

“We're not concerned with a public health risk here," said Lynch. "There are lots of reasons for that. Cows that are sick, their milk is not included in the salable milk supply, so it gets discarded.”

The pasteurization process is vital. 

"That's a very standardized heating process that brings all milk up to a known high enough temperature to kill off microorganisms," he said. 

For farmers, take precautions.

Limiting nonessential farm visits, making sure that everyone's wearing clean boots, disinfecting their boots if you don't need to be interacting directly with the cows and we're going to limit that as well," Lynch said. 

The good news is this.

“Milk continues to be a safe and healthy food source," he said. 

In New York, the most recent discovery of avian influenza in a wild bird was discovered in Suffolk County on March 20.