The Family Cow dairy store in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, has temporarily halted raw milk sales pending test results expected early in the coming week for Campylobacter bacteria.
State health officials in Pennsylvania and Maryland have advised consumers not to drink any raw milk purchased from the farm since January 1 because an outbreak of Campylobacterosis has sickened six people who consumed it. Three of the case patients live in Maryland and three live in Pennsylvania.
It’s not clear from official reports if any of the individuals have been hospitalized, but campylobacteriosis sometimes leads to a life-threatening disease known as GBS, or Guillain Barre syndrome. People who contract GBS often lose respiratory function and can suffer acute neuromuscular paralysis. Campylobacter symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Complications from an infection can seriously affect infants, teens, and young adults.
The Family Cow Campylobacter outbreak is at least the second raw milk Campylobacter outbreak in Pennsylvania since Pasture Maid Creamery of New Castle was linked to an outbreak in 2010 that paralyzed a man from Mars, Pennsylania.
That case resulted in a raw milk Pennsylvania lawsuit filed in Allegheny County.
Raw milk from the Family Cow farm is sold in plastic gallon, half gallon, and pint containers and is sold directly from the farm and at so called “drop-off points” and at least 25 retail stores in Pennsylvania. The farm’s web site lists 29 drop-off points around Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, South Central Pennsylvania and the eastern part of the state.
The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and the Pennsylvania Department of health are advising consumers that milk purchased from this store since January 1, 2012 may be contaminated with dangerous bacteria.
My family has purchased this brand in the last 30 days and consumed it and no one here has gotten ill. Raw milk has not caused a death in over 11 years and is healthier by far than “pasteurized” milk. Heating the milk kills all beneficial properties as God intended it straight from the cow. We have since purchased other local brands of raw milk and consumed them as well. No illnesses here! If you are young or elderly and/or have a weakened immune system, than I would caution you in consuming this brand until official testing has been completed.