Health Law

Deadly Form of Tuberculosis Linked To Raw Cheese

By Marler Clark

Raw Milk's first cousin Raw Cheese is bringing death to San Diego in the form of a disease most Americans think no longer exists in the United States.   Doug Irving, writing in the Orange County Register, yesterday reported:

Researchers have found a potentially deadly strain of tuberculosis infection spreading through Latino communities in Southern California and suspect the disease is being imported from Mexico in unpasteurized cheese...

Tuberculosis is an infection of the lungs that kills nearly 2 million people worldwide every year. The strain of tuberculosis that researchers found in San Diego County is more often linked to cattle, but can spread to people through raw dairy products.

That particular strain remains rare, even in San Diego County, the researchers concluded. But more than 90 percent of the people who were sickened by it were Latino, mostly from Mexico.

There's one error in Irving's story, his report has all unpasteurized milk and cheese being illegal in the United States.  Some may wish that were true.   However,  the OC Register is well worth the read and can be found here.

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on June 06, 2008 (boomark / email).