Topline
At least 45 people in Idaho have tested positive for campylobacteriosis linked to raw milk, the state’s Department of Health and Welfare said on Wednesday, as authorities investigate two different raw milk sources thought to have sickened almost 60 people so far.
The outbreaks are likely associated with raw milk, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
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Key Facts
Authorities in Idaho have identified almost 60 people who were sickened after drinking raw milk since May 19, the state Department of Health and Welfare said in a press release on Wednesday.
At least 45 of those people have tested positive for campylobacteriosis, an infection caused by the campylobacter bacteria, although not all people who were sickened have been tested for the disease yet, the state said.
The release noted most of those sickened reported drinking raw milk from one of two different milking operations—one in northern Idaho, and another in southern Idaho, which were not immediately identified.
An investigation is ongoing, the Department of Health and Welfare said, and authorities are working to identify “batches of concern.”
What Is Campylobacteriosis?
Campylobacteriosis is an infection caused by campylobacter bacteria, which are sometimes carried by animals like chicken and cattle. It frequently causes diarrhea, but can also sometimes result in fever, nausea and vomiting, according to a 2024 study published in the National Library of Medicine. It is frequently spread through eating raw or undercooked chicken, and it takes very few campylobacter bacteria to sicken a human. A single drop of juice from raw chicken with the bacteria can sicken a human, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also spread through travel and touching animals carrying the bacteria, including their food, water sources, feces and habitats (like chicken coops or barns).
What Is Raw Milk?
Raw milk is milk that did not go through the pasteurization process—the standard method Louis Pasteur developed in the 1800s of treating milk with heat. The CDC warns against consuming dairy products that have not been subjected to pasteurization, which is done to eliminate diseases like E. coli, listeria and salmonella. Pasteurization does not diminish milk’s nutritional benefits, according to the CDC, but that hasn’t stopped raw milk from growing in popularity in recent years, especially within the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. It was once championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who promised before President Donald Trump’s electoral victory in 2024 to end the Food and Drug Administration’s “war” on the beverage. However, Kennedy has been mostly silent on raw milk since taking over at HHS, and raw milk producers told the Wall Street Journal in April the secretary was “unresponsive” to their requests for meetings.