INTRODUCTION The interstate commerce of unpasteurized fluid milk, also known as raw milk, is illegal in the United States, and intrastate sales are regulated independently by each state. However, U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations allow the interstate sale of certain types of cheeses made from unpasteurized milk if specific aging requirements are met. We describe characteristics of t...

The growing popularity of unpasteurized milk in the United States raises public health concerns. We estimated outbreak-related illnesses and hospitalizations caused by the consumption of cow's milk and cheese contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter spp. using a model relying on publicly available outbreak data. In the ...

From 1948 to 1988, there were 6 confirmed foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. transmitted with domestically produced hard cheeses as the food vehicle. Various research reports have raised concerns about the public health protection provided by the current 60-day aging period in the manufacture of hard cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. The objective of this study was to investigate the a...

From 1948 to 1988, there were 6 confirmed foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. transmitted with domestically produced hard cheeses as the food vehicle. Various research reports have raised concerns about the public health protection provided by the current 60-day aging period in the manufacture of hard cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. The objective of this study was to investigate the a...

BACKGROUND A cluster of E. coli O157:H7 hemorrhagic colitis was identified in metro Edmonton, Alberta through notifiable disease surveillance in late 2002. METHODS Environmental health officers collected food histories and clinical information from cases in the cluster. The provincial public health laboratory conducted pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis on E. coli O157:H7 isolat...

At the end of 2009, six food poisoning outbreaks caused by staphylococci were reported in France. Soft cheese made from unpasteurized milk was found to be the common source of the outbreaks. Staphylococcal enterotoxin type E was identified and quantified in the cheese using both official and confirmatory methods of the European Union Reference Laboratory (EU-RL). To our knowledge, this is the f...

BACKGROUND Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus is a rare infection in humans associated with contact with horses or consumption of unpasteurized milk products. On October 23, 2003, the National Public Health Institute was alerted that within one week three persons had been admitted to Tampere University Central Hospital (TaYS) because of S. equi subsp. zooepidemicus septicaemia. All had...

Background: Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, a highly fatal opportunistic food borne infection. Listeriolysin O is a major virulence factor in this bacterium, which is encoded by hlyA. The aim of the present study was to determine the relation of Listeria monocytogenes hlyA gene isolated from fresh cheese with habitual abortion in Marvdasht. Materials and methods: I...