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Last Updated 10:11 PM Sunday, September 05, 2010
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News
| 10/3/2008 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Raw Milk May Be E.Coli Source
Third Case Discovered In Orleans County
Robin Smith
Staff Writer
DERBY - A third person has contracted disease from E.coli bacteria recently in Orleans County, helping Vermont Health Department officials to determine the source was likely raw milk from a local producer.
Raw milk is the only epidemiological link between the three cases, said Patsy Kelso, an epidemiologist with the health department.
"We didn't find any other common exposure," Kelso said. "It's strong evidence, but it's not conclusive.
It's still not absolute proof because we didn't get a hold of any of the raw milk to test."
The name of the raw milk producer is not being released, because the state cannot be sure that the milk was the source, she said.
The state doesn't have the regulatory authority to force a recall even if a source is pinpointed with proof. Besides, the batch of milk that possibly was the source has already been consumed or discarded, she said. Raw milk has a short shelf life.
Two people who fell sick after coming in contact with E.coli are related, she said.
Two of the three people ate ice cream made from raw milk at a picnic. The third person drank raw milk from the same producer, but not at the picnic, Kelso said.
The three people were ill from exposure to a similar type of coliform bacteria, which is found in feces and spread through touch or ingestion of contaminated food or liquid, Kelso said.
The names of the three are confidential. Kelso said she could not say if they live in the same town or community.
The Vermont Health Department also looked at other potential sources such as a swimming hole, handling animals, or ingesting contaminated meat or other produce.
E.coli lives in the intestines. It can be found in fecal matter or water contaminated from farm runoff. It spreads through what Kelso called the "fecal-oral route" in food, water and by person to person through touch.
E.coli has an incubation period of two to 10 days, which means that the source was gone by the time symptoms appeared and the illness was identified, Kelso said.
Tests for E.coli may not be taken until the person has been sick for days and more common illnesses have been ruled out.
Symptoms include stomach cramps and vomiting that can be mild or life-threatening. A severe strain of E.coli can cause kidney damage, according to the department's Web site.
One of the three recent cases involved a toddler who had kidney problems.
In 2007, there were 15 cases of people infected with shiga toxin-producing E.coli, with four in Orleans County, for example, and the others spread throughout the state, Kelso said. In 2006, there were 19 cases statewide.
Raw milk has not been pasteurized, a process of heating milk or other raw foods for a short time to kill pathogens like E.coli.
Farmers in Vermont are allowed to sell small quantities of raw milk and raw milk products on the farm only. Both the Vermont Health Department and the Agency of Agriculture recommend that consumers not consume raw milk.
Not An Ongoing Outbreak
In an ongoing outbreak, people would start falling ill and new cases would keep occurring over time.
The state Health Department does not have the authority to order the raw milk producer to stop selling raw milk, Kelso said, even if there was proof the milk sickened people and people kept getting sick.
If there was an ongoing outbreak, "the first thing we would do would be to talk to the farmer," Kelso said.
The milk producer would voluntarily recall the milk produced from the farm in question.
Food producers "have a strong incentive to recall," she said.
Health and agriculture officials would work with the producer to identify which cows were contaminated, or to clean bulk tanks, she said.
The state government does not have the regulatory power to order a recall of products, she said, and neither does the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The only federal exception is in the case of infant formula.
National recalls of potentially contaminated food products, like the recent case of contaminated spinach, are voluntary and not forced by the FDA, Kelso said.
The government agencies rely on publicity about potential health hazards to alert the public to food products that may or do have problems, Kelso said.
That's what has happened in the E.coli cases in Orleans County, where media coverage alerted consumers to the hazards of raw milk, she said.
There is no point in targeting the individual milk producer in the current case, since the raw milk batch that likely led to the E.coli illnesses is already all consumed or discarded, Kelso said.
Almost any batch of raw milk, regardless of the care taken by the farmer, could contain E.coli and other pathogens from the cows, which is why the state recommends that raw milk not be consumed, Kelso said.
One batch of raw milk might be fine compared to another from the same cows at the same farm, Kelso said.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, October 04, 2008
Article comment by:
Chrys Ostrander
It would be informative to know if the E. coli strain in this instance was the severe 0157 H7 strain or not. Also, what is meant by "the three people were ill from exposure to a similar type of coliform bacteria"? Similar to what? Were they similar to each other? If so, does this mean they were not exactly the same strain in each of the three cases, but only similar? I think the chances are slim that three people are sick from the same raw milk if they were infected by different strains. If there's more than one strain, it's likely more than one source.
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