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WI Raw Milk Outbreak: Campylobacter Flashback

By PritzkerLaw

Wisconsin's last big Campylobacter outbreak caused by raw milk occurred in 2001 and warranted special attention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the current WI raw milk outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni, officials are investigating where the unpasteurized milk came from that sickened at least 13 people. State law prohibits the sale of raw milk. More illnesses are expected to be confirmed soon and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is urging anyone who has raw milk to discard it.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen attorneys recalls the 2001 Wisconsin Campylobacter outbreak as a large one. According to the CDC, 75 people living in Northwestern Wisconsin were victimized by contaminated milk produced on a Grade A organic dairy farm in Sawyer County.

The farm had 36 cows and distributed unpasteurized milk from the herd to people who bought into the farm's cow leasing program. The farm also gave away unpasteurized milk to tour groups. At the time, health investigators discovered that 70 of the 75 victims had consumed raw milk from the dairy farm and four others were mothers of children who were sick from it.

According to a CDC review of the outbreak, the victims ranged in age from 2 to 63 and none of them came down with Guillain-Barre' Syndrome, a complication of Campylobacter infection that can cause paralysis.

The CDC review of the 2001 raw milk outbreak said unpasteurized milk is an important vehicle for Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7, Brucella, Salmonella and Listeria. The review also stated that Wisconsin would try to prohibit cow leasing programs for the sake of food safety and public health. 

"Persons who drink unpasteurized milk and milk products might believe that these products taste better, provide greater nutrition than pasteurized products, and/or decrease the risk of for various medical conditions,'' the CDC wrote. "However, the benefits of consuming unpasteurized milk and milk products have never been validated scientifically.''

If you or a loved one has been sickened in the current Campylobacter milk outbreak in southeastern Wisconsin and want to protect your legal rights, call a Campylobacter attorney at Pritzker Olsen, 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. We are involved in practically every major outbreak of food poisoning and have collected tens of millions for victims.

To receive a free case consultation from one of our lawyers, follow this link to our consultation contact forms and submit one of the forms online.  

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on August 29, 2009 (boomark / email).