MDH: Children Sickened After Consuming Raw Milk

(KNSI) – Raw milk may be the cause of at least two children being sickened with Salmonella Typhimurium.

The Minnesota Department of Health says five kids became ill, but two families said they had consumed unpasteurized milk. Unpasteurized milk, also known as raw milk, has not been heated to a temperature high enough to kill harmful germs from fecal contamination sometimes found in the milk.

The MDH could not get information from the remaining three families, but the bacteria from the cases were identical after lab analysis. That indicates the infections came from the same source, according to officials.

The cases include children aged three months to ten years old. One of them needed to be hospitalized.

In addition to Salmonella, one child was also infected with two types of pathogenic E. coli.

“Even healthy animals can carry these germs and have them in their milk,” said Maria Bye, senior epidemiologist in the Zoonotic Diseases Unit at MDH. “Consuming any unpasteurized milk is risky, no matter how clean the operation from which it is purchased.”

MDH is working to identify the source of the unpasteurized milk causing these Salmonella infections and prevent additional illnesses.

“If you have raw or unpasteurized milk in your refrigerator, please do not consume it,” Bye said, “If you have developed gastrointestinal illness after consuming unpasteurized milk, contact your health care provider.”

To help prevent more people from getting sick, MDH is asking anyone with information about gastrointestinal illnesses shortly after consuming unpasteurized milk at the end of June or the beginning of July to fill out a confidential online survey here or email health.foodill@state.mn.us.

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