The report is published in the scientific journal for
Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“We estimated outbreak-related illnesses and
hospitalizations caused by the consumption of cow’s milk and cheese
contaminated with Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella,
Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter using a model relying on publicly
available outbreak data,” says the report.
In the United States, outbreaks associated
with dairy consumption cause, on average, are 760 illnesses per year and 22
hospitalization per year, mostly from Salmonella and Campylobacter.
Unpasteurized milk, consumed by only 3.2 per
cent of the population, and cheese, consumed by only 1.6 per cent of the
population, caused 96 per cent of illnesses caused by contaminated dairy
products.
Unpasteurized dairy products thus cause 840 times
more illnesses and 45 times more hospitalizations than pasteurized products.
As consumption of unpasteurized dairy
products grows, illnesses will increase steadily; a doubling in the consumption
of unpasteurized milk or cheese could increase outbreak-related illnesses by 96
per cent, says the report.
