Listeria Deaths from PASTEURIZED Milk

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DAIRY LINKED TO 3 DEATHS, MISCARRIAGE

By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press

BOSTON - At Whittier Farms dairy, the fifth-generation owners brag

of the quality of their Holstein cows and still deliver milk right

to your door, in glass bottles. Customers like the products because

they are a hormone-free taste of old New England.

But health officials now say three elderly men have died and at

least one pregnant woman has miscarried since last June after

drinking bacteria-contaminated milk from the dairy's plant in

Shrewsbury, about 35 miles west of Boston.

All were infected with listeria, which is extremely rare in

pasteurized milk. It is more often found in raw foods, such as

uncooked meat and vegetables, and processed foods such as soft

cheeses and cold cuts.

The outbreak is believed to be only the third time listeria has ever

been linked to pasteurized milk in the United States, said Dr.

Alfred De, state director of communicable disease control.

" We know something is going on; we just don't know what it is, "

De said. " We just need to find out how the bacteria is getting

into the milk. "

Listeria bacteria are often present in manure and are commonly found

in soil and water. Pasteurization is supposed to kill listeria.

Tests at the Whittier Farms plant found nothing wrong with its

pasteurization process, deepening the mystery.

Health investigators are now looking at the cooling and bottling

machinery, including the connecting pipes, for the source of the

bacteria, De said. Investigators have taken about 70 samples

from vents, ceilings, floors, tanks, bottle-washers, bottles and

other equipment.

" We're focusing on every inch of contact with the milk products, "

De said.

The dairy, which distributes milk under various brand names to homes

and stores across central Massachusetts and also operates a 500-acre

farm in the town of Sutton, has suspended operations until the

source of the contamination is pinpointed.

The Whittier family has declined to be interviewed. In a statement

posted in the window of its dairy store and in a letter to its

customers, the farm said it is " extremely concerned about the

situation " and is cooperating with the investigation.

Health officials say about 2,500 serious listeriosis cases are

reported in the United States every year, 20 to 40 of them in

Massachusetts. Symptoms include fever, nausea and diarrhea.

Listeria can cause serious illness or death in pregnant women,

newborns, the elderly and patients with compromised immune systems.

Healthy adults and children generally recover.

A 1983 outbreak in Boston that was believed to have been caused by

pasteurized milk led to 14 deaths.

In the Whittier Farms outbreak, DNA testing on the four patients

showed they carried exactly the same strain of listeria, suggesting

the germ had a common source. After the test results came back in

mid-December, health officials began interviewing the patients and

their families, hoping to zero in on the source.

At about the same time, a health worker at the hospital where an 88-

year-old man was diagnosed with listeriosis learned that the man had

had unpasteurized cider and coffee-flavored pasteurized milk. When

both drinks were tested, only the pasteurized milk — from Whittier

Farms — came back positive.

Officials then found listeria in an unopened container at the

dairy's store in Shrewsbury.

State health officials would not identify any of the listeria

patients because of privacy laws. But health officials in the town

of Medway confirmed that the 88-year-old man who died Jan. 3 was

J. Powers, a World War II veteran and retired timekeeper at the

Boston Naval Shipyard.

Powers' son bought the milk. The younger Powers had some flu-like

symptoms for several days but recovered, while his father — who had

other health problems — became ill and died, said Bill Fisher,

Medway's health agent.

Two of the victims, a 78-year-old man and a 75-year-old man, died in

Worcester County in June and October.

A pregnant, 34-year-old woman recovered but suffered a miscarriage.

Health officials suspect another pregnant woman, 31, contracted

listeriosis from Whittier Farms milk. She recovered, and her baby is

doing fine.

Gay, owner of Maple Farm Dairy, has distributed Whittier's

milk for about a decade and said many of his customers were shocked

by the outbreak. Some canceled their service, Gay said, but most

seem willing to return to Whittier when the milk is deemed safe.

" They were bumming out, because they love the product, " Gay said.

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AP reporters Mark Pratt and Trujillo contributed to this

report.