Forest Grove Raw Milk Campylobacter Outbreak Spreads to Indiana and Ohio
An outbreak of Campylobacter associated with raw milk from Forest Grove Dairy has spread to Indiana and Illinois for a total of 17 confirmed cases. Additional unconfirmed illnesses are considered to be part of the outbreak, which began in Michigan.
Pam Pontones, an Indiana state epidemiologist, said all the sick people drank unpasteurized milk from Indiana's Forest Grove Dairy provided by Family Farm Cooperative of Vandalia, Michigan. She said no other common factor has been identified and investigators are asking any buyers of Forest Grove raw milk to submit the product for free laboratory testing. (Call 317-233-7360).jpg)
The Indiana State Department of Health announced in a press release that three outbreak cases are confirmed in Indiana. Meanwhile, the Kalamazoo Gazette newspaper is reporting that Michigan now has 13 confirmed cases and Illinois has one.
All three states have joined forces with the Food and Drug Administration in alerting consumers to this raw milk Campylobacter risk. Their joint investigation into the outbreak should address why Family Farm Cooperative and Forest Grove Dairy engaged in shipping raw milk across state lines.
Forest Grove Dairy received an FDA Warning Letter in 2007 for allegedly distributing unpasteurized milk in interstate commerce.
Since 1987, the FDA has required all milk packaged for human consumption to be pasteurized before being delivered for introduction into interstate commerce. Pasteurization, a process that heats milk to a specific temperature for a set period of time, kills bacteria responsible for diseases, such asE. coli HUS, listeriosis, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, diphtheria and brucellosis.
If consumers of raw milk are experiencing diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain or fever, they should contact their health care provider immediately. For answers to legal questions, victims of this outbreak may call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen for a free case consultation at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). To reach a lawyer online, complete the contact form on the side of this Web page.
Our firm is a leading practitioner of foodborne illness litigation and has represented victims of raw milk outbreaks, including those who became hospitalized and seriously ill. Over the years we have collected million for victims of food poisoning and have become recognized by news organizations as outbreak experts.
With Campylobacter, other symptoms may include nausea and vomiting. The illness typically lasts one week. In persons with compromised immune systems, Campylobacter occasionally spreads to the bloodstream and causes Guilliain-Barre syndrome, a serious life-threatening infection.
