In 2012 the Missouri State Department of Health and Senior Services reported 14 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 linked to raw milk.  Two E. coli cases were from Boone and Marion counties. The 14 cases had similar lab results, geographic proximity and/or case history.  All drank raw milk or are family members of those who drank raw milk.  A 2-year-old Boone County child sickened with E. coli developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), a complication of E. coli infection that causes kidney failure.  Five cases were reported in Boone County, three in Cooper, three in Howard, and one each in Jackson, Marion and Callaway counties. The illnesses were linked to a farm owned by Sam Stroupe of Armstrong, Missouri.  Marler Clark resolved the case of one young woman who unknowingly drank raw milk while at a friend’s home.

Also in 2012, raw milk produced at The Family Cow farm in Pennsylvania was the source of the most severe outbreak of sickness linked to raw milk in Pennsylvania in five years. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 76 confirmed cases of Campylobacteriosis.  Marler Clark resolved the case of one man who purchased the milk at a farmer’s market.

For more information on the risks of raw milk, see www.realrawmilkfacts.com.