A Salmonella outbreak that sickened over 160 people in California and a handful of individuals in other states was caused by raw milk products from a single dairy farm, a new report explains.
The outbreak — described Thursday (July 24) in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which is published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — took place between September 2023 and March 2024. The California Department of Public Health was first notified of the outbreak when nine people fell ill after consuming a specific brand of raw milk produced by the same dairy. This prompted an investigation by state and federal officials.
This outbreak is notable because it was “one of the largest foodborne outbreaks linked to raw milk in recent U.S. history,” the report authors emphasized. Between 2009 and 2021, there have been 16 Salmonella outbreaks tied to raw milk consumption and those were comparatively small, involving between two and 33 people.
Additionally, last year’s outbreak was notable because it disproportionately affected young children, as the median age of those sickened was 7 years old, the report says.
“Commercially distributed raw dairy products have the potential to cause large and widespread infectious disease outbreaks,” the report writers cautioned. “Public health authorities should continue to raise awareness of the risks associated with consuming raw dairy products, especially by persons at increased risk for severe disease from enteric [intestinal] pathogens, including children.”
In addition to Salmonella, raw milk can contain a range of other disease-causing germs, including bird flu viruses, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Escherichia coli, Listeria and Brucella. That’s because raw milk, also called unpasteurized milk, isn’t heated to a high temperature to kill off those germs prior to being sold. Children under 5 years old, pregnant people, and people with weakened immune systems face particularly high risks from consuming raw milk products because the germs listed above can make them severely ill.
Related: How does E. coli get into food?
The Salmonella outbreak described in the report affected 171 people in total, including 159 confirmed and 12 probable cases. Most cases occurred in California, but there was one case each in New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington state.
Of the total cases, 67 occurred in children under…
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