3 deaths linked to listeria in milk
Pastor Dale Morgan
3 deaths linked to listeria in milk*
'We know something is going on; we just don't know what it is'
Jan 8 05:32 PM US/Eastern
By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) - At Whittier Farms dairy, the fifth-generation owners brag
of the quality of their Holstein cows and still deliver milk right to
your door, in glass bottles. Customers like the products because they
are a hormone-free taste of old New England.
But health officials now say three elderly men have died and at least
one pregnant woman has miscarried since last June after drinking
bacteria-contaminated milk from the dairy's plant in Shrewsbury, about
35 miles west of Boston.
All were infected with listeria, which is extremely rare in pasteurized
milk. It is more often found in raw foods, such as uncooked meat and
vegetables, and processed foods such as soft cheeses and cold cuts.
The outbreak is believed to be only the third time listeria has ever
been linked to pasteurized milk in the United States, said Dr. Alfred
DeMaria, state director of communicable disease control.
"We know something is going on; we just don't know what it is," DeMaria
said. "We just need to find out how the bacteria is getting into the milk."
Listeria bacteria are often present in manure and are commonly found in
soil and water. Pasteurization is supposed to kill listeria.
Tests at the Whittier Farms plant found nothing wrong with its
pasteurization process, deepening the mystery.
Health investigators are now looking at the cooling and bottling
machinery, including the connecting pipes, for the source of the
bacteria, DeMaria said. Investigators have taken about 70 samples from
vents, ceilings, floors, tanks, bottle-washers, bottles and other equipment.
"We're focusing on every inch of contact with the milk products,"
DeMaria said.
The dairy, which distributes milk under various brand names to homes and
stores across central Massachusetts and also operates a 500-acre farm in
the town of Sutton, has suspended operations until the source of the
contamination is pinpointed.
The Whittier family has declined to be interviewed. In a statement
posted in the window of its dairy store and in a letter to its
customers, the farm said it is "extremely concerned about the situation"
and is cooperating with the investigation.
Health officials say about 2,500 serious listeriosis cases are reported
in the United States every year, 20 to 40 of them in Massachusetts.
Symptoms include fever, nausea and diarrhea.
Listeria can cause serious illness or death in pregnant women, newborns,
the elderly and patients with compromised immune systems. Healthy adults
and children generally recover.
A 1983 outbreak in Boston that was believed to have been caused by
pasteurized milk led to 14 deaths.
In the Whittier Farms outbreak, DNA testing on the four patients showed
they carried exactly the same strain of listeria, suggesting the germ
had a common source. After the test results came back in mid- December,
health officials began interviewing the patients and their families,
hoping to zero in on the source.
At about the same time, a health worker at the hospital where an 88-
year-old man was diagnosed with listeriosis learned that the man had had
unpasteurized cider and coffee-flavored pasteurized milk. When both
drinks were tested, only the pasteurized milk—from Whittier Farms—came
back positive.
Officials then found listeria in an unopened container at the dairy's
store in Shrewsbury.
State health officials would not identify any of the listeria patients
because of privacy laws. But health officials in the town of Medway
confirmed that the 88-year-old man who died Jan. 3 was John J. Powers, a
World War II veteran and retired timekeeper at the Boston Naval Shipyard.
Powers' son bought the milk. The younger Powers had some flu-like
symptoms for several days but recovered, while his father—who had other
health problems—became ill and died, said Bill Fisher, Medway's health
agent.
Two of the victims, a 78-year-old man and a 75-year-old man, died in
Worcester County in June and October.
A pregnant, 34-year-old woman recovered but suffered a miscarriage.
Health officials suspect another pregnant woman, 31, contracted
listeriosis from Whittier Farms milk. She recovered, and her baby is
doing fine.
Brian Gay, owner of Maple Farm Dairy, has distributed Whittier's milk
for about a decade and said many of his customers were shocked by the
outbreak. Some canceled their service, Gay said, but most seem willing
to return to Whittier when the milk is deemed safe.
"They were bumming out, because they love the product," Gay said.
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AP reporters Mark Pratt and Melissa Trujillo contributed to this report.