Health Authorities: Raw Milk From PA Dairy Linked To Fatal Case Of Listeriosis Image courtesy of Tambako The Jaguar
While you can’t just buy raw milk anywhere, there are some ways consumers can get their hands on the product, nonetheless, despite warnings from health officials that the unpasteurized product can carry dangerous bacteria. That risk proved fatal in one of two recent listeriosis cases that health authorities say are linked to a Pennsylvania dairy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said one person in California and one in Florida were infected from raw milk in 2014, reports The Associated Press, and that the Florida victim died as a result of the illness.
Officials say the source is likely a farm in Lancaster County, PA, which isn’t licensed by or inspected by the state agriculture department. Though it doesn’t sell raw milk on the retail market, it does sell its product by mail order to a membership club.
Health officials say they didn’t make the link until January, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told the CDC that genome sequencing of a Listeria bacteria from chocolate milk produced by the farm in November 2015 was related to samples taken from the two affected people.
Both state and federal health officials say they’re concerned that there could be further contamination of raw milk and raw dairy products distributed by the dairy businesses.
The owner of the company said the dairy is still selling raw milk, and no customers have complained.
Pennsylvania dairy’s raw milk is linked to listeriosis death [The Associated Press]
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