Raw milk drinkers in 19 states at risk of rare and dangerous infectious disease

If the outbreak of measles cases did not ask you what year we are, this health alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can inspire a double take on the calendar: unpasteurized milk may have made sick people in 19 states.

Yes, while the country is struggling with five, five, or five epidemics of a vaccine-preventable disease, the CDC warns that another infectious disease poses a risk to large dairy drinkers, from least those who complained about the norm. a decades-old process to eliminate deadly pathogens from their milk.

The infectious disease is brucellosis. It is a feverish disease difficult to define, caused by Gram-negative bacteria. Brucella Bacterial species that infect a variety of animals and sometimes the unlucky man. Four species pose particular risks for humans: Brucella am, found in pigs; Brucella melitensis, found in sheep and goats; Brucella canisdogs; and who is at the center of this current health alertBrucella abortuswhich is transported by livestock. Usually, the disease appears in developing countries. But in the United States, meat packers, hunters, veterinarians, negligent farmers and microbiologists are at risk, as well as those who consume unpasteurized dairy products.

The CDC reports that one Brucella abortus The strain called RB51 was found in unpasteurized milk distributed by Miller's Biodiversity Farm in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. RB51 is a debilitated strain used by veterinarians to vaccinate cows against more dangerous varieties, which cause abortions in livestock (as its name implies). Vaccination causes no symptoms in non-pregnant cows, but RB51 can rarely slip into milk and cause serious illness in humans that avoids pasteurization. It is also resistant to a first-line antibiotic used to treat brucellosis.

Health officials identified a cow excreting RB51 on the Pennsylvania farm and removed it from the lactating herd. But this is not until the milk of the farm reaches an unknown number of consumers in 19 states. These states are: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Mbadachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia .

Until now, a case has been confirmed in New York. But brucellosis is extremely difficult to diagnose, especially if you do not know that you have been exposed to it.

Insidious infection

After exposure, symptoms may appear within a week or months. It's very similar to flu, fever, chills, body aches, headaches and sometimes diarrhea. As it progresses, it can cause fever spikes from 104 degrees Fahrenheit to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. But otherwise, it causes a dispersion of symptoms – acute or chronic, localized or systemic.

About half of brucellosis cases are acute infections, with obvious symptoms appearing rapidly. The other half of those affected experience slower development of symptoms, which can lead to chronic infection with fevers that come and go over the years. The infection can affect several body systems or be localized in certain tissues or organs. It has been badociated with skin problems, such as rashes and abscesses. It is also linked to bone and joint problems, including inflammation and pain in the lower back (vertebral osteomyelitis) and arthritis. This can lead to inflammation of the kidneys, prostate, testes, liver and / or gastrointestinal tract. In rare cases, it can affect the heart and central nervous system, causing inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, which can be fatal.

The safest way to diagnose brucellosis is to try to develop bacteria from blood, bone marrow, cerebrospinal fluid or sores. But it can take up to four weeks to appear in laboratory cultures. Treatment usually involves weeks of antibiotic treatments.

Miller's Biodiversity Farm customers may have been exposed at any time since January 2016. The CDC warns that anyone who has been drinking milk from the farm in the last six months may become infected. People who have been drinking milk for more than six months and have symptoms but have not been tested should consult their doctor immediately, warns the agency.