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State: Bacterial illness linked to dairy (Montrose Daily Press, CO) By Katharhynn Heidelberg The
Montrose dairy linked to a recent bacterial outbreak says it will work with
health department officials to address any problems found. The
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment slapped a public health
order on Kinikin Corner Dairy late Tuesday, which for the time being
prohibits it from making its raw milk available for distribution. The dairy
is thought to be the source of a recent campylobacter outbreak that sickened
at least eight people on the Western Slope. “If we find
out that our milk has a problem, it’s going to be a sad thing,” dairy owner
Scott Freeman said. “We’re sure hoping we can find another culprit, but we
have to take this seriously and try to make ourselves better because of it.” He said the
testing of milk samples was ongoing. Existing milk supplies are being dumped. “We need to
try to take responsibility for this regardless the outcome of health
department surveys. We’re really trying,” Freeman said. There have
been 11 confirmed cases of the campylobacter bacteria since March 30; the
state health department says 10 of those sickened reported drinking raw milk
and eight of those 10 reported getting the milk from Kinikin Corner Dairy. The dairy
operates a “cow-share” program, through which some 200 customers owning a
stake in the dairy cattle pick up raw milk for their own consumption. “At this
point, the common denominator is our milk. That (case numbers) was enough
statistically that they gave us a cease and desist order,” Freeman said. “The state
health department has essentially isolated the source as being the Kinikin
Corner Dairy,” Montrose County Health and Human Services Director Peg Mewes
said. Mewes and
the state authorities were in the process of contacting each of the 200
shareholders who use the dairy’s raw milk to check whether they had symptoms
consistent with campylobacter — diarrhea (sometimes bloody), fever, abdominal
cramping, nausea and vomiting. The infection is rarely fatal. “We don’t know
the extent of this so far. We’re still investigating into how many sick
people there might have been,” said Dr. Ken Gershman, chief of the state
health department’s communicable diseases program. Of the 10
campylobacter cases tied to raw milk, four were from Montrose County; two
from Garfield County and one each were from Delta, Eagle, Ouray and San
Miguel counties. Another
case, not thought linked to raw milk, was confirmed in Montezuma County, the
state said. “That
number of campylobacter for the Western Slope in that timeframe (since March
30) is very unusual,” Gershman said. The
county’s head of environmental health, Richard Thompson, and the state health
department had begun investigating the dairy after healthcare providers began
reporting the cases of campylobacter, as required by the state’s communicable
disease reporting system. “That’s our
job, to notice blips and we noted blips on the Western Slope,” Gershman said. “We
connected the dots. This is exactly why we have a disease-reporting system in
place.” Cows, along
with poultry, are considered “natural reservoirs” for the bacteria, Gershman
said. The
bacteria can be passed through cattle’s fecal matter into water or milk,
thereby becoming a threat to humans. The infection does not spread from
human-to-human, but through the consumption of raw, unpasteurized milk or
undercooked poultry. “Every
situation is different, but if it’s in the feces and the feces contaminate
the environment in which (cattle and poultry) live, the exact path of the
contamination can be almost anything,” Gershman said. Gershman
said Freeman worked with the state, but did not cooperate to the extent of
voluntarily pulling the raw milk from distribution. “We were
under the impression he would voluntarily stop distributing it or making it
available for distribution,” Gershman said. “The shareholders share the milk
with others who may not know what is going on. Our job is to ensure the
public’s health.” Gershman
said two of the confirmed campylobacter patients knew they drank raw milk, but
not where it came from. Freeman
said the state hadn’t explicitly asked him to pull the milk prior to the
order. He alerted his milk share customers, posted notices and spread the
word. “They
didn’t really demand it, so I did what I thought was fair,” he said. “They
did their next step, which is plum fine.” Freeman
acknowledged there is controversy over consuming raw milk, but said it
provides better nutrients and more naturally occurring probiotics. “Our milk
customers are just being adamant about keeping the milk coming,” he said.
“Raw milk is more of a natural food source and your body knows what to do
with it better.” Gershman
said that the hazards of consuming unpasteurized milk have been known for a
century. “Milk can
never be safe without pasteurization. Anyone who chooses to drink that milk
is taking a risk with their health,” he said. “This is one of the oldest
known unwise things to do.” 4-09-09 http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2009/04/09/news/doc49dd71c5b4463644819059.txt |
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