The top 10 list of outbreaks of 2024 continues with the Raw Farm Salmonella E. coli Campylobacter outbreak that sickened at least 165 people. Twenty people were hospitalized. The outbreak was not publicized when it happened. The patients lived in four states, but only California was named by the California CDC.
One of the problems with raw milk is that children, who are one of the groups most susceptible to serious complications from food poisoning infections, make up the greatest number of patients in these types of outbreaks. In fact, the median age in this outbreak was 7 years. Thirty-nine percent of the patients were under the age of five.
There were three pathogens in the milk: Salmonella Typhimurium, Campylobacter, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). Of 81 patients who gave information to public health investigators, 62% said they drank Raw Farm raw milk before getting sick.
There are serious complications with all of these infections: Salmonella can cause heart problems and irritable bowel syndrome and Campylobacter can cause paralysis. But a STEC infection can lead to HUS, a type of kidney failure, that most often affects patients under the age of five. We don’t know if anyone developed HUS in this outbreak because the information was scanty.
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection typically include fever, headache, chills, nausea, abdominal cramps, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that may be bloody. Symptoms of a Campylobacter infection usually start two to five days after consuming contaminated food or drink. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting. A Campylobacter infection can also cause a complication called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which can lead to paralysis that may be temporary or may not.
Symptoms of a STEC E. coli infection include severe abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. Some people may also experience nausea and vomiting and a mild fever. And symptoms of an HUS infection include lethargy, pale skin, easy bruising, and little or no urine output.
If you have consumed Raw Farm products and have been ill with food poisoning symptoms, see your doctor.
If you have been sickened with a food poisoning infection, please contact our experienced attorneys for help with a possible lawsuit at 1-888-377-8900 or text us at 612-261-0856. Our firm represents clients in lawsuits against grocery stores, restaurants, and food processors.
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