As many as 20 people are sick with campylobacteriosis after consuming raw milk from a ranch in Pueblo County, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports.
Some people believe raw milk is healthier than pasteurized milk. The state of Colorado apparently does not. It's illegal to sell raw milk here.
The exception, however, is "herdshare programs," where people can buy stakes in livestock, as the Gazette reports.
That's how these people (a dozen confirmed cases, eight more suspected) were able to legally buy raw milk from Large Vista, the suspected source of the illnesses, according to the Gazette. A few reportedly got the milk from friends in the herdshare program, which is not legal.
Now, what is campylobacteriosis? Says the Centers for Disease Control:
Most people who become ill with campylobacteriosis get diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, and fever within two to five days after exposure to the organism. The diarrhea may be bloody and can be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The illness typically lasts about one week. Some infected persons do not have any symptoms. In persons with compromised immune systems, Campylobacter occasionally spreads to the bloodstream and causes a serious life-threatening infection.
Yeah. I'll take the big plastic jug.
