A state health official is worried that the illness count in Minnesota's raw milk E. coli outbreak could increase as investigators continue to probe the outbreak's association with raw milk from the Hartmann Dairy Farm, also known as M.O.M.'s.
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The Star Tribune reported that state officials have little doubt that the Gibbon, Minnesota, dairy farm produced the raw milk containing E. coli O157:H7. The Department of Health announced Wednesday that four E. coli infections are considered to be part of the outbreak because they have matching genetic fingerprints.
Three of the four were hospitalized, including a toddler who developed life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
"I am concerned that we are going to hear about more cases," Dr. Kirk Smith, supervisor of state Health Department foodborne disease investigations, told the Star Tribune. It often takes up to two weeks for cases to surface, he added.
The newspaper reported that in 2001, Hartmann Dairy Farm's license to sell Grade A milk was revoked after state inspectors discovered unsanitary conditions, including chickens roaming and defecating in the milking parlor.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Department of Health is urging people not to drink milk recently purchased from Hartmann Dairy Farm, aka M.O.M.'s. The milk may be labeled organic and consumers may be unaware that the milk has not been pasteurized.
Anyone who has experienced illness after consuming dairy products from Hartmann’s Farm should immediately consult their health care provider. For answers to legal questions, families can call food safety law firm
Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our free consultation form on the side of this Web page.
Pritzker Olsen is based in Minneapolis and has a national reputation as a leading practitioner of foodborne illness litigation, including raw milk cases. Currently we represent a Pennsylvania man who developed
Guillain Barre syndrome. He became so sick from drinking contaminated raw milk that he received intensive hospital care for severe neurological damage and paralysis that stemmed from food poisoning.
