See A Doctor If You Drank This Milk In NJ, CDC Warns

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people who might have consumed contaminated raw milk and milk products in New Jersey and other states to visit their doctor.

People who bought and drank raw milk from a company called Udder Milk may have been infected with a rare but potentially serious germ called "Brucella abortus RB51," according to a CDC press release. In late September, a New Jersey woman became ill after drinking raw milk from the company.

The CDC confirmed her illness was Brucella RB51 in late October.

Because Udder Milk has not provided information about the farms that supply their milk, it has not been possible to trace the source of the woman’s infection. CDC scientists have been collaborating with New Jersey health officials on the investigation.

While Brucella can cause anyone to become sick, women may suffer miscarriage and other pregnancy complications making it critical for pregnant women who may have consumed the raw milk from Udder Milk to seek medical care immediately, according to the release.

Information suggests that the company delivers milk in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are working with New Jersey health and agriculture officials to trace the source of the contaminated raw milk and raw milk products, according to the release.

“Because health officials have no direct way to let people know they may have drunk contaminated milk, everyone who consumed milk from Udder Milk in the past 6 months should receive antibiotics now to avoid having long-term health effects from the bacteria,” said William Bower, team lead for the CDC group that investigates brucellosis, the illness caused by RB51.

The New Jersey patient is the second known domestically acquired illness caused by Brucella RB51 in raw milk in the United States this year; the other was in Texas in July. The Texas and New Jersey incidents are not connected.

People who have consumed the milk and other products made from Udder Milk raw milk should check themselves daily for fever for one month after they last drank the milk and watch for other brucellosis symptoms for six months. These symptoms include muscle pain, lasting fatigue, arthritis, depression, and swelling of the testicles.

Untreated Brucella RB51 infection can result in long-term health problems like arthritis; heart problems; enlargement of the spleen or liver; and, in rare cases, nervous system problems like meningitis. RB51 can cause severe illness in people with weakened immune systems and miscarriages in pregnant women.

The locations of the farms supplying Udder Milk are not known. Neither are the places where the company sells and distributes raw milk and other products. Online information about Udder Milk points to members-only websites through which people purchase raw milk online and delivery sites that shift to avoid detection by public health officials, according to the release.

Selling and distributing raw milk and raw dairy products is illegal in New Jersey and selling it outside of the farm that produces it is illegal in New York. Farms that sell raw milk in New York also must have a permit to sell it.

All people who consumed raw milk and raw milk products from Udder Milk should start antibiotics to prevent future chronic disease from RB51, according to the release. The Brucella RB51 strain is resistant to some antibiotics that would normally be used to prevent or treat brucellosis.

Therefore, people who consumed raw milk from Udder Milk should tell their doctor that they may have been exposed to this particular Brucella strain. Doctors can learn more about testing patients for RB51 and which antibiotics to prevent or cure infection at https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis/clinicians/rb51-raw-milk.html.

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