Massachusetts health officials are trying to determine if tainted raw milk was the source of a case of brucellosis, a disease so rare in the U.S. that a New Hampshire case once prompted a bioterror investigation. This is one of the 10 foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw milk in 2011.
Normally seen in countries that lack good public health or animal health programs, brucellosis is caused by the Brucellla bacteria. It’s been decades since Brucella has been found in Massachusetts livestock, state agriculture officials said.
Drinking raw milk is one way humans can contract brucellosis and a number of other serious infections that can cause kidney failure, heart problems, nerve damage, paralyzation and death
In 2011, there were at least 10 foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw milk:
November 2011 Three customers who drank raw milk from Cozy Vale Creamery in Tenino, Washington contracted E. coli infections. The dairy issued a raw milk recall after E.coli discovered in the milking parlor matched the outbreak strain.
November 2011 Five children who drank milk produced by Organic Pastures in Fresno, California contracted E. coli infections.
October 2011 Two people are sickened after drinking raw milk tainted with Campylobacter produced on Jerry Dell Farm in Freeville, New York.
September 2011 Pride & Joy Creamery, Granger Washington, issued a recall after Shiga-toxin producing E. coli was discovered in a sample during random testing by the health department.
July 2011 Three confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection were inked to raw milk produced at Tucker Adkins Dairy in York, South Carolina.
June 2011 At least seven Alaskans were sickened after drinking raw milk produced by a Mat-Su Valley farm that was tainted with Campylobacter.
June 2011 Three people contracted Q Fever after drinking raw milk contaminated with Coxiella burnetti from a farm in Livingston County, Michigan.
June 2011 At a school event in Wisconsin, 16 people contracted Campylobacter infections after drinking raw milk.
April 2011 Four people in Texas were sickened and one woman was hospitalized with a Salmonella infection after drinking raw milk.
Feb 2011 Raw milk from the The Country Market in Washington was recalled after E.coli 0157:H7 was found.
