Your Family Cow’s raw milk campylobacter outbreak is now linked to at least 43 cases of ilness in four states.  The confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection include 36 people in Pennsylvania, four in Maryland, two in West Virginia, and one in New Jersey.  Raw milk from an unopened bottle tested by Maryland Health officials was positive for Campylobacter.

Campylobacter is the second most common cause of bacterial foodborne illness in the United States after Salmonella. Active surveillance through FoodNet indicates that there are about 13 cases for each 100,000 persons in the population diagnosed yearly with C. jejuni infection (MMWR, 2009, April 10). In 2009, there were 6,033 reported cases of campylobacteriosis; however the CDC estimates that C. jejuni causes approximately 845,000 illnesses, 8,400 hospitalizations, and 76 deaths in the United States each year, according to a 2011 report.

For more on the risks of raw milk, see Real Raw Milk Facts Dot Com.