Rare Illness Is Blamed on Drinking of Raw Milk

A 21-year-old North Hollywood woman recently contracted brucellosis, an uncommon disease, after consuming raw milk, according to a recent report by the Los Angeles County Health Services Department.

The non-pasteurized dairy product was listed as the only known risk factor suspected of transmitting the potentially fatal bacteria, according to an article in the county’s Public Health Letter.

In this instance, the illness resulted in intermittent abdominal pains, severe headaches and a 104-degree fever over the course of two months. A diagnosis of brucellosis was followed by successful treatment with antibiotics.

The woman’s identity and the commercial source of the raw milk will be kept confidential, according to a county health officer.

Brucellosis is believed to be communicated to humans from exposure to, or consumption of, infected animal products. There are numerous strains of the disease; one is popularly known as undulant fever. Incidences of brucellosis have gradually disappeared in this century with the advent of pasteurization and the testing of herds for the bacteria.

In fact, only six such illnesses were reported in Los Angeles County during 1986. This particular incident was considered noteworthy because contemporary brucellosis cases are most frequently associated with foreign travel, typically to Mexico, or employment in the meat industry. Foods in foreign countries are not as likely to be free of the bacteria as in the United States, and employees in slaughterhouses may also encounter the pathogen via exposure to infected carcasses.

“Brucellosis can be, and has been, transmitted in raw milk,” said Dr. Shirley L. Fannin, associate deputy director of the county’s disease control program. “It’s relatively rare now in the general public, but not so in slaughterhouse workers. When it comes up as a specific case, though, it is usually because of foreign travel and exposure to a foreign animal herd.”

The recent brucellosis patient reported to health investigators that she consumed raw milk once every two to three weeks before her illness. No foreign travel or employment in the meat industry was linked to the case, the report said.

“The current case . . . seems likely to have acquired her infection from exposure to raw milk,” the newsletter stated.

Soft Cheese Caution--Local officials have intensified efforts aimed at curtailing illegal cheese sales at area swap meets in light of a recent state Health Services Department warning about purchasing any of the items because of potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The warning cautioned consumers about buying the sour cream-type Latin cheeses known as crema at loosely organized open air markets or from street vendors.

The action was precipitated after state health officials confiscated cheese products being illegally produced at a South-Central Los Angeles residence infested with cockroaches, flies and ants. Soft cheese samples were also seized recently by county health inspectors at a San Fernando Valley swap meet. Laboratory test results on the confiscated products are not expected for several weeks.

Listeria, often fatal, can cause nausea, headache, fever and liver damage and can disrupt the central nervous system.

In addition to the local sources, potentially contaminated cheese is also thought to be arriving from Mexico, according to Jim Thomas, Los Angeles County Health Services Department epidemiologist.

“It is illegal to sell uninspected, unpackaged, unlabeled or improperly stored cheese,” he said. “It’s a good idea, in general, not to buy dairy products or cheese at these swap meets.”

Thomas said that all cheese sold in this country must be manufactured under federal standards and then stored under the proper refrigeration.

“Barring (having) a county employee or someone from the Health Services Department at every swap meet every day,” Thomas said, “then (these) illegal cheeses will (still) be found.”

Questioning ‘Low Fat’--Federal definitions for low-fat milk have come under fire from a Washington consumer group which calls them “outdated” and “erroneous.”

The Center for Science in the Public Interest claims that the maximum allowable fat levels in low-fat milk are too high--thus creating the “misleading” image that this is a beneficial food for those interested in lowering their fat consumption.

The advocacy group petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week to further reduce the fat levels in this milk category by 50%, from its current 2% butterfat level to 1% or less.

Diets high in saturated fat have been linked to heart disease, a leading cause of death in this country.

Low-fat milk currently contains five grams of fat per one-cup serving. The FDA has defined low-fat items in other food categories as those that contain less than two grams of fat per serving. The center is urging the agency to apply the non-dairy standards to those for low-fat milk.

An FDA spokesman said that the petition will be reviewed.

“Two-percent fat content is legally defined by the FDA as low-fat milk,” said agency spokesman Jim Greene. “Those standards are directly related to milk and the definitions of other low-fat foods do not apply (to this case).”

The FDA is required to answer the petition within six months, but Greene said he expects a reply sooner.

“From a nutrition point of view, (the center’s petition) has provided some cause for reflection on our part,” he said.