AK: 34 Confirmed Cases Of Campylobacter Infection But Raw Milk Dairy Still Selling, Because Freedom

[hatrack]

EDIT

Although the state health department has tied more than 30 cases of an infection to a Kasilof-based dairy farm, the farm’s owner is not deterred. “I ain’t going down without a fight ‘cause this is what I like to do and know to do,” said Kevin Byers, the farm’s owner. “I was born and raised on this.”

Byers owns Peninsula Dairy, a raw milk cow-share operation that distributes to Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Seward, Anchorage and Sitka.

In mid-February, Kenai Peninsula residents began developing symptoms similar to a campylobacter infection — diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pains and fever, according the health department. The illness can lead to death in young children or those with compromised immune systems.

As of March 22, there have been 34 cases of illnesses, and in all the cases, the individuals have had associations with Peninsula Dairy, said Brian Yablon, an epidemiologist for the Alaska Section of Epidemiology. Seven of the 34 cases have been confirmed in a lab as campylobacter infection, he said. No one has died from the infection, he said.

EDIT

http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/2013-03-26/a-dairy-dilemma

[madrchsod]

1. some people are incredibly stupid

i`ve had cold fresh milk from the cow and to me it tasted awful....

[Javaman]

4. A lot of the time with raw milk and how it tastes is effect is what the cows are fed.

A good solid grass based diet will result in a milk that tastes like milk you buy from the store, only difference it will be of a richer taste and a thicker texture because it's not homogenized.

Also, good raw milk will have a yellow tinge to it due to the beta carotene in the cows diet from eating grass.

If you felt it had a "gamy" taste, that usually means the dairy was either supplementing the cows diet with grain or has an solely grain based diet, which is a big no no. It's bad for the cow. And will give a grossly substandard product.

The only supplement that is given to the cows were I get my milk from is oats. Which are also grown by the same dairy.

Anyway, I'm not trying to persuade you to try it again. I'm just offering a little insight as to why it may have tasted the way it does.

And on a side note, Ice Cream made with raw milk is unbelievably delicious.

[newfie11]

2. Drank raw milk for year

BUT clean collection from healthy cows/goats is a must unlike pasteurized.
Never had a problem nor did my family.

[Javaman]

3. It's obvious that he doesn't know how to do it.

Otherwise it wouldn't be infected.

I drink raw milk and have so for the last 5 years. The farm I get mine from is inspected bi-weekly via the USDA. On top of that this same diary sells their milk to Blue Bell Ice Cream so they have to maintain a level of cleanliness for a variety of reasons least of all their sales to the general public.

The bottom line to buying anything from any farmer is questioning them in regards to their various practices when it comes to farming, slaughter and how they keep their facility clean.

it's guys like this that give raw milk and general farm practices a really bad name.

This is a classic example as to why pasteurization was first employed. And I have zero problem with it. And it's necessary and this guy is a perfect example as to why. A quick bit of research will show you that once upon a time, many dairy "farms" were within city limits and as such were located within reach of other various "farms". Aka city pig farms. As a result the concept of keeping the product clean from proximity contamination was virtually unheard of. This is why so many people in the cities of the time were getting sick from various milk borne diseases. Pasteurization solved this.

this dairy farmer is a fool of the highest order and sounds like he reeks of that other disease: libertarianism.

And trust me, while I do drink raw milk (I can't drink pasteurized milk, it tears up my stomach), many in the milk group that I belong too are of both the "survivalist" types and the Libertarian
"get gobmint out of everything" morons. Thankfully, I have virtually no contact with them.

And educated consumer is a well armed consumer.

[bananas]

5. "but none matched the confirmed strains that made people sick"

From the article:

After the state health department linked the outbreak to Byers’ farm, it collected fecal and milk samples from his cows. Lab results found three strains of campylobacter from samples collected at his farm, but none matched the confirmed strains that made people sick, Gerlach said.

From the comments:

rbaize77 03/27/13 - 06:20 pm

After outbreak, dairy owner plans to continue production

I am really upset about the way this article is written. The headline seems to imply that the dairy owner doesn't care that people are sick.

I read the printed version of this article earlier today. In the printed version the headline was on the front page, but way back on page 14, I find that the State Health Inspector actually conducted tests and did NOT find that strain in the tests. To me this makes the whole rest of the article a lot of guesswork. This is a small community, of course there were connections made to all the people that got sick, I have only lived here for 3 years and I probably have "connections" with the people that got sick. Don't try to make it sound like people here don't know their neighbors, this is not Anchorage.

We pastuerize milk in this country because ALL dairy farms have bacteria of one strain or another, cows are not neat and clean animals. Anyone that drinks raw milk should know the dangers and do like some people did and pastuerize the milk when they get it home. Only they know if they have someone in their household that may have problems with the bacteria.

We should be encouraging the farmers on the Kenai Peninsula not drive off the few we have.

[hr]
Norseman 03/27/13 - 07:22 pm

but none matched the confirmed strains that made people sick,

but none matched the confirmed strains that made people sick, Gerlach said
.....
diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pains and fever
......
Every body I talked to during that month knew someone who had those symptoms, it is called the FLU......

He sells shares in his cows to people who wish to purchase them. That agreement is between those two parties and the government needs to go worry about someone else.