How much feces to make a glass of milk infectious ?

Wise Traditions 2009 1

How much feces to make a glass of milk infectious ?

• Add volume of very fresh manure from healthy animal that is actively shedding temporarily colonized specific pathogen

• One glass of fresh unprocessed milk

• Healthy person drinks immediately

Conditions:



Amount of Fresh Feces needed to make a glass of fresh unprocessed milk potentially infectious

• Campylobacter jejuni ½ gram

• Salmonella spp. 1 gram

• Listeria monocytogenes 2 grams

• E. coli O157:H7 ¼ gram


Amount of fresh feces from cow shedding the pathogen, necessary in a farm bulk tank to supply

an “infectious dose” in a glass of milk?

• Campylobacter jejuni 10 cups

• Salmonella spp. 1 ¼ gallons

• Listeria monocytogenes 2 ½ gallons

• E. coli O157:H7 4 cups


• Remember that experiment that added Campylobacter jejuni to raw milk and then determined how many where present over the next days.

• Calculations on the amount of manure that you would have to add to a farm bulk tank in order to match that inoculum of 10 million bacteria in the experimental sample……. 600 gallons


Differences between colonization of cows and infectivity of humans

We can learn more about how to protect people from virulent pathogens.

But we must learn to take advantage of the knowledge that the factors that influence colonization and shedding of “pathogens” in the dairy herds are not the same as those that enable disease from those same “pathogens” in humans

There is some early research on conditions that discourage colonization.


Injustice

• The fact that with all pathogens there are specific human-virulent strains as well as mostly non-virulent stains is universally known by research microbiologists, epidemiologists and pathologists.

• But this FACT is universally overlooked by Regulatory Agencies


Consequences

• The public is falsely notified, about threats, and unnecessarily alarmed about the safety of foods

• Producers are inappropriately accused of producing hazardous products and forced to stop production– Suffer huge business losses– Incur financial penalties

Even though there is NO public health treat if the “pathogen” was not one of the strains virulent in humans!


Take-home Lessons

• Test results are not the absolute truth

• Test results have unavoidable variations

• You only find what you look for• What you find is totally dependent on how

you look (which test, which media, what conditions)

• Test results are frequently used by regulatory agencies as a scare tactic to make unrelated dogma statements


We are now accumulating a large number of pathogen testing results from raw milk

dairies


What is the correlation between finding “pathogens” in farm milk and human illness?

• Researchers agree that farm families that are drinking “pathogen” containing raw milk are not getting sick, nor is there evidence of poor health in these families.

• I am not aware of a public outcry that farm families are spreading illness to their neighbors, in their communities, churches, schools.

• Even in the rare instances of agencies finding “pathogens” in fresh unprocessed milk, remarkably no illnesses in those drinking that very milk


Why don’t people become ill when they have consumed milk reportedly containing a

pathogen ?

Because the reported pathogen was not there.– Test was in error (lots of reasons)


If the pathogen was there why don’t people become sick ?

Because the “pathogens” were not virulent for humans

Virulent pathogensHave been isolated from people with illness, and have been shown to

specifically cause that illness.

Non-virulent pathogensCause disease in other animals, but no cases in human populationMay colonize human or other animals, but not associated with

illnesses


Factors that affect whether disease occurs when people consume a pathogen

-Bacterial Factors-

All necessary virulence factors must be present and active

The bacteria must be healthy and active

The virulent bacteria must be present in high enough numbers.

Their ability to counter host protective systems


-Environmental Factors-

Milk itself– Fresh with all components– Length of storage– Conditions of storage (temperature, atmosphere)– Season of year– Cows nutrition

Other foods eaten at the same time

Amount of food eaten

Presence of other bacteriaFood microfloraIntestinal microflora

Phage


- Factors in the consuming people-

Immunity (all 4 types participate)Prior exposureActivated, nonspecific and specific

Condition (nutrition, health)

Genetics

Prior/current medications

Prior eating habits

Stress


Lactose Intolerance

• It is real• It varies with cultural heritage• It is the result of insufficient lactose digestion in the small

intestine• Almost all of the research is funded by producers of

products with reduced lactose

• 82% of people with professional diagnosis are able to drink fresh unprocessed milk without their symptoms.


Flurry of Articles/Newspaper Columns

• Currently it has become common for all types of communication about raw milk

• Those obsessed with ridding the world of unprocessed fresh milk have an organized campaign to flood the media with their propaganda

• There have been an increase in the number and quality of articles supporting raw milk.

• There is however a recent trend in which articles with headlines that appear to support raw milk, devote most of their content on detailing horror stories.


Why do we drink Fresh Unprocessed Whole Milk ?

Some would like to reframe the question continuingly asking: what is the scientific proof that raw milk is healthy and nutritious?

– There is NO scientific dispute that milk is healthy and nutritious and should be in most diets.

They would like to confine the issue to pasteurization.– We drink milk because it is MILK, but we choose

based on a long list of things that we do not want to have in or altered in our milk, unpasteurized is just one of those.


Basic Truths about Processing

• Homogenization has the most profound physical effect on whole milk

• Homogenization without pasteurization is not an option


What are the major differences between milk readily available in grocery stores, and the milk we

choose?

• Fresh• Unprocessed• From cows pastured on grass or fed forage, • Known source• Whole (nothing removed and nothing add),• No residuals from things that shouldn't have

been there in the first place,• Higher fat content.• Farm management focused on consumer

preference, paying premiums for enhanced quality

• Farmers we know and trust.• Tastes good and satisfying• It not always the same

• Treated to extend storage• Cream and other valuable ingredients

removed for sale as separate products• Pasteurized• Homogenized• From cows confined, fed processed grain-

based commercial feed• Cheap “feed” substitutes• Added ingredients• Residuals from things given to cows to

enhance production• Industrial management practices driven by

efficiency and quantity production• Comingled from many farms and over

wide/unknown locations• Totally unknown and constantly changing• No trust.• Little or no taste• Everything about is standardized


Survey Results

Health and Nutrition are the primary reasons households select as reason for working so hard to obtain fluid whole milk in its farm fresh unprocessed form.

Interestingly, when explaining to friends why they should try this much ridiculed food, it is overwhelmingly the taste that they bring up.


Future focus

Continue to fight for right to choose

Rebut false and misleading statements

Counter all efforts to ban or discourage production, distribution and sale of raw milk.

Promote research to expand knowledge of values of milk fresh and unprocessed

Focus on best practices to enhance the quality of the milk.– Farm practices– Consumer practices


Consumers should be allowed to decide which of these they would prefer for their milk source

Documents

How much feces to make a glass of milk infectious ?