Two Fronts of Raw Milk Disease in Utah
As Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle decides whether to sign a bill legalizing raw milk sales in Wisconsin, health officials in Utah are dealing with two separate clusters of illness linked to drinking the unpasteurized dairy product.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that 15 people became ill from Campylobacter and Salmonella stemming from two different state-licensed dairies..jpg)
The nine reported cases of Campylobacter infection are among residents in Weber, Davis and Cache counties. In Utah, Salt Lake and Wasatch counties, at least six raw milk drinkers have suffered from Salmonella infection.
The information comes from Julia Hall, food-borne epidemiologist for the Utah Department of Health. She told the newspaper that risks of getting disease from raw milk are inherent. Besides Salmonella and Campylobacter, unpasteurized milk can be laden with microscopic E. coli O157:H7 bugs or Listeria without tainting the taste or smell of raw milk.
Said Hall: "Even with strict state regulations in place, there is no guarantee that raw milk is free of disease-causing bacteria."
Anyone in Utah who has consumed raw milk in recent days and is experiencing symptoms should contact a health-care provider. For answers to legal questions about bacterial infection from raw milk sold by licensed Utah dairies, call food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page for a free case consultation.
The two Utah raw milk dairies associated with the current outbreaks are as follows:
- For Campylobacter, samples tested positive with high coliform counts from Ropelato Dairy, 4019 W. 1800 South in Ogden. Ropelato's license to sell raw milk has been suspended, said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
- For Salmonella, investigators have associated the illnesses with Redmond Dairy, in central Utah. Raw milk from the dairy was sold at stores in Heber City and Orem. The dairy's St. George store was not linked to the outbreak.
