Page 93 - Spring 2019 Journal

pregnant, it may actually cause an infection with the vaccine strain of brucella in the vac- cinated cow. It is, therefore, possible that if the RB51 vaccine isn’t given strictly according to the protocol, the vaccinated cow may become infected and may shed the pathogen (that is, the RB51 strain of brucella) into the milk.
Public health officials have found in all three cases of illness from brucellosis attributed to raw milk consumption, the strain of Brucella abortus discovered was the RB51 vaccine strain. In fact, in November 2017, the Pennsylvania De- partment of Agriculture sent a letter to licensed raw milk producers in the state advising them to stop immunizing cows with the RB51 vaccine.5
So the solution to preventing brucellosis in raw milk is not for producers to pasteurize the milk but rather to either stop giving their herd the RB51 vaccine or to make sure their vets give the calves the vaccine before the calves become fertile. Worth noting, too, is that hundreds of people drank raw milk produced by the herds responsible for the three cases of brucellosis and, as far as is known, no one else became sick.
MEDIA FEAR-MONGERING
In the meantime, the media fear-mongering
continues. The latest case of brucellosis at- tributed to raw milk consumption dates back to November 2018, but to read the stories in the media, you would think it had just been discovered. CDC press releases on this latest case dated January 23, 2019, and February 11, 2019, are providing the impetus for the flood of media reports.
Has the anti-raw-milk agenda ever gotten so much mileage from three illnesses?
A fear-mongering statement from the February 11 CDC press release that the media have parroted is, “the CDC and state health officials are investigating potential exposures, to brucella strain RB51 in 19 states, connected to consuming raw (unpasteurized) milk from Miller’s Biodiversity Farm in Quarryville, Pennsylvania.”6 (The farm allegedly distributed raw milk to people in the nineteen states listed later in the release.) Being exposed to a pathogen is far different than being sickened by it; we are exposed to various pathogenic bacteria such as
SPRING 2019
listeria and E. coli in the environment every day.
One headline screamed, “Deadly disease caused by raw milk has
already put 19 U.S. states on high alert.”7 There have been no deaths from brucellosis attributed to raw milk consumption since the eradica- tion program succeeded in substantially eliminating the incidence of the disease and possibly even long before then.
The public health agencies and their allies in the press have been misleading the public long enough on raw milk and brucellosis. It’s time for fear and hysteria to give way to science and common sense.
REFERENCES
1. “Brucellosis Affected Cattle/Bison Herds by State, FY 1997-2018” graph.
USDA-APHIS National Brucellosis Eradication Program (September 10, 2018), https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal- disease-information/cattle-disease-information/national-brucellosis- eradication/brucellosis-eradication-program.
2. “Facts About Brucellosis.” USDA-APHIS National Brucellosis Eradication Program, Section “Resources” link (see question #21), https://www.aphis. usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/brucellosis/downloads/bruc-facts. pdf.
3. “How Brucellosis is Spread” section. USDA-APHIS National Brucellosis Eradication Program (September 10, 2018), https://www.aphis.usda.gov/ aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/cattle-disease- information/national-brucellosis-eradication/brucellosis-eradication-program
4. “Fast Facts: Brucellosis, Undulant Fever.” Iowa State University, The Center for Food Security & Public Health. April 2008, http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/ FastFacts/pdfs/brucellosis_F.pdf.
5. Letter dated November 30, 2017. Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Health and Diagnostic Services, Dr. David Wolfgang (Director) and Dr. Lydia Johnson (Director, Bureau of Food Safety & Laboratory Services); accessed at https://www.yourfamilyfarmer.com/ uploads/documents/RB51-Brucellosis-Letter-PDA-2017.pdf.
6. Media Statement. CDC (February 11, 2019), https://www.cdc.gov/media/ releases/2019/s0211-brucellosis-raw-milk.html.
7. “Deadly Disease Caused by Raw Milk Has Already Put 19 U.S. States on High Alert.” ScienceAlert.com, Carly Cassella (February 15, 2019), https:// www.sciencealert.com/it-s-dangerous-to-drink-raw-milk-the-cdc-warns-for- the-umpteenth-time.
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