HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Department of Agriculture today announced that the permit for Pasture Maid Creamery in New Castle, Lawrence County, to sell raw milk for human consumption was suspended April 5 after testing found Campylobacter in its raw milk samples. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized.
The Department of Health has recently received new reports of consumers who became ill after drinking raw milk from Pasture Maid Creamery, owned and operated by Adam Dean. Anyone who bought raw milk from that farm is urged to discard it immediately and contact their health care provider if they become sick.
Additional samples of milk collected from the farm on March 26 were confirmed by the Department of Agriculture laboratory to contain Campylobacter. These are the latest samples from the farm found to contain this organism, which can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting.
Pasture Maid Creamery sells raw milk directly to consumers who sometimes provide their own bottles. The business is not related to Dean's Dairy in Sharpsville, Mercer County, which produces pasteurized milk for sale in supermarkets.
Although raw milk has a short shelf life, consumers who have recently purchased the milk may still have it in their refrigerator, are freezing it to use at a later time, or have used it to make other items like ice cream or butter. Freezing of raw milk will not necessarily kill Campylobacter. All consumers who purchased milk from this dairy since mid-March are urged to immediately discard it, state officials said.
Campylobacter is a bacterial infection that affects the intestinal tract and can sometimes enter the bloodstream and other organs. It is one of the more common causes of gastroenteritis, which results in diarrhea and vomiting. In some instances the diarrhea can be bloody. Known complications of Campylobacter infection includes Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder of the nervous system.
Onset of illness usually occurs two to five days after exposure, but can be longer. Any person who consumed the raw milk and has symptoms of diarrhea should contact their health care provider to assure appropriate specimens are collected and treatment is administered, as Campylobacter can be treated with antibiotics.
Ill individuals can also contact the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-877-PA-HEALTH. Information on Campylobacter is available on the department's Web site at www.health.state.pa.us.