Raw-milk Products Contain Salmonella

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Raw-milk Products May Contain Salmonella

 

http://www.personalmd.com/news/a1999051810.shtml

 

NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters Health) -- Unpasteurized milk products

could contain a salmonella strain that is resistant to five

antibiotics used to treat salmonella infections, according to

studies published in the May 19th issue of The Journal of the

American Medical Association.

 

In three recent salmonella outbreaks, occurring mainly in Hispanic

children in California and Washington State, a Mexican-style cheese

that included unpasteurized -- or " raw " -- milk was the source of

the bacteria.

 

" Raw milk and raw milk products can pose a risk of infection, not

only with this pathogen, but with many other pathogens as well, "

researcher Dr. Sara H. Cody, communicable disease control officer

with the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health, told

Reuters Health.

 

Everyone, but especially infants, pregnant women and those with

weakened immune systems should avoid unpasteurized milk products,

the researchers warn.

 

In the first study, Cody, formerly of the California Department of

Health Services in Berkeley, and colleagues found that Salmonella

typhimurium DT104 caused a 1997 outbreak of foodborne illness in 31

patients who had eaten fresh Mexican-style cheese.

 

In a second outbreak in 79 people, researchers analyzed cheese

samples from both patients and vendors, proving that the cheese was

made from contaminated raw cow's milk.

 

Around the same time period, 54 cases were also reported in Yakima

County, Washington. Dr. Rodrigo G. Villar of the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues found

that 77% of patients had eaten unpasteurized cheese. Among the

bacteria samples isolated, 91% were resistant to the five

antibiotics.

 

Salmonella causes an estimated 800,000 to 4 million infections in

the US each year. Most cases are not severe enough to require

antibiotics. However, in severe cases, the drugs can save lives.

 

The DT104 serotype is resistant to five common antibiotics:

ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin sulfate, sulfonamides and

tetracycline. Studies suggest it accounts for about 30% of all

salmonella cases in the US.

 

As a result of the outbreaks, both states launched public health

interventions about the dangers of consuming raw milk products. Such

education campaigns are crucial, along with regulation and

enforcement of salmonella control measures, writes Dr. William E.

Keene of the Oregon Health Division in Portland, Oregon, in an

editorial.

 

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association

1999;281:1805-1810, 1811-1816, 1845-1847