Epidemiologic and laboratory investigation of an outbreak of Campylobacter enteritis associated with raw milk

enteritis associated with raw milk. Am J Epidemiol 1985; 122:884-9. An outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred in March-April 1981, in Wichita, Kan-sas, and involved more than 250 persons who drank raw milk from a single local dairy. Campylobacter jejunl was recovered from 60 of 116 (52%) persons in households that had one or more ill family members. A cohort study of families that belonged to a food cooperative that purchased raw milk from the implicated dairy showed a significant association between illness and having drunk raw milk. Thirty-nine of 55 (71%) persons who drank raw milk became ill compared with four of 36 (11%) persons who did not drink raw milk (p < 0.01, t test, accounting for clustering). Peak (convalescent) antibody triers to C. fejunl, deter-mined by indirect immunofluorescence, in 20 raw-milk drinkers showed a geo-metric mean of 1:27 in contrast to geometric mean trter of 1:6 in 10 well persons from the cohort who did not drink raw milk (p < 0.002, t test). C. jejunl was recovered from 21 of 34 (66%) raw-milk drinkers, versus none of 26 people who did not drink raw milk (p < 0.001, Fisher's exact test, one tailed). C. Jejuni of th