Wyoming health authorities are linking consumption of raw milk with the recent hospitalization of two children with bacterial infections.
Four children overall became sick, along with one adult, in cases of either E. coli and/or campylobacter infection in Teton and Lincoln counties, Wyoming Department of Health spokeswoman Kim Deti told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday email.
Both illness types involve “fecal contamination,” she added.
Deti said the four children and adult were not all from the same family.
The agency is unaware of any deaths from the illnesses, but also is unaware of the current health status of those affected.
Milk Flow Halted
The nonprofit group Slow Food in the Tetons of Jackson, Wyoming, has stopped carrying products from an implicated dairy provider during this investigation.
Neither Steen nor the state agency has publicly identified the milk vendor.
The market is in touch with the Teton County Environmental Health Department about the infection’s possible connection with that raw-dairy product provider, Slow Food Executive Director Scott Steen told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday email. Steen said Slow Food took rapid action to comply with the health agency’s requests, informed potentially impacted customers of the investigation and asked them not to consume any of the remaining product.
Buyers would have been able to pick up those products at the Slow Food in the Tetons Online Marketplace Sept. 14 or Sept. 21, Steen said.
“The health and safety of Slow Food customers and the community is a top priority,” Steen wrote.
Customers with additional questions may contact Matthew Peterson of the Wyoming Public Health Division at 307-777-7007 or 307-214-9841, says the statement.
“Slow Food in the Tetons works to grow the local and regional sustainable food system by supporting producers, educating consumers, and connecting them in the spirit of good, clean and fair food,” Steen’s statement concludes.
Gut Problems
The Wyoming Department of Health dispatched a survey last weekend to contacts for 61 households, Deti said.
“We’ve heard back from about a third of those and do encourage others to respond as soon as possible,” she wrote.
Campylobacter bacteria can cause an illness that typically lasts one week and generally brings diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain and fever within 2-5 days of exposure. Symptoms can last longer and the bacteria can occasionally spread to the bloodstream, causing a life-threatening infection, according to WDH’s website.
Most strains of E. coli are harmless, but some can sicken people, causing diarrhea and other illnesses, WDH’s website says.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
