Raw Milk E. coli Outbreak Revisited
By Kathy Will
In southeastern Wisconsin, officials are investigating a Campylobacter jejuni outbreak linked to contaminated raw milk. At least 13 people have been sickened and the state health department is reminding people that sale of unpasteurized milk is illegal in Wisconsin. The law exists to protect public health.
A classic case of raw milk food poisoning that created a lot of awareness about the danger of raw milk involved E. coli O157:H7 and a cow share program in Woodland, Washington.
A study of the 2005 raw milk E. coli outbreak said the scientific discovery of the outbreak’s source helped initiate legislative reform in the Washington Legislature regarding cow-share programs.
According to a recap of the outbreak by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak started in December 2005 with an unusually high number of E. coli O157:H7 cases in Clark County.
Eventually, 18 cases were discovered, at least nine of whom were children. Of those nine, five were hospitalized and four developed E. coli HUS, or Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, the leading cause of E. coli death. The outbreak strain of E. coli was traced to milk at a dairy in Woodland, which at first refused to cooperate with the investigation. It took a court order to obtain the dairy’s list of cow-share owners.
It turned out that all victims of the outbreak had consumed unpasteurized milk from the dairy. During inspections at the farm, the Washington State Department of Agriculture noted mud and manure accumulation in the entrance of the milking parlor on rubber mats covering the dirt floor. The bucket used for collection of the milk had direct contact with these surfaces, the investigators found. Inspectors also found inadequate hand washing and improper cleaning of milking equipment.
Every year in the U.S., E. coli O157:H7 sickens about 73,000 people and up to 15 percent of them end up with HUS, which can lead to high blood pressure, kidney failure, seizures, headaches and neuropathies.
For more information about food poisoning and raw milk, contact an E. coli lawyer at food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen attorneys.
