A City of Columbia news release confirmed the fifth case of E. coli 0157.H7 in Boone County on Tuesday.
The outbreak occurred in an adult older than 18 who did not require hospitalization.
Boone County now holds the largest proportion of E. coli cases in a recent outbreak of 14 cases in central Missouri. There are three cases from Cooper County, three from Howard County and one each from Jackson, Marion and Callaway counties.
All five Boone County cases have occurred in people ages two to 31. Two cases required hospitalization and two occurred in people younger than 18, according to the Columbia Health Department press release.
The Columbia Health Department takes measures to control such an outbreak and investigates the cause and whether a case is an isolated incident or a trend.
“It’s probably true there may yet be unidentified cases where individuals didn’t go to a doctor or had no specimens to test,” said Columbia Health Department senior lab analyst David Vrana.
The Missouri State Department of Health and Senior Services has reported nine of the 14 victims have acknowledged drinking raw milk. The department has identified Stroupe Farm, located in Howard County, as the possible source of the ongoing E. coli outbreak because all five Boone County victims consumed raw milk from that same farm. The farm has since halted the sale of its unpasteurized products.
Current Missouri law allows for the sale of unpasteurized products directly to consumers. A proposed bill, Missouri Senate Bill 841, would allow farmers to sell no more than 100 gallons of raw milk or cream per day at farmers markets.
“It’s not where you’re getting the unpasteurized milk, it’s the fact that it’s unpasteurized,” Boone County Health Department spokeswoman Geni Alexander said. “I would advise those who choose to consume unpasteurized milk to understand the dangers involved.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal’s March 2012 report found raw milk and products made from it had an outbreak rate 150 times higher than the outbreak rate of pasteurized milk.
Unpasteurized milk can pose severe health risks, according to the CDC.
“Typical symptoms include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, low-grade fever, vomiting and nausea,” Vrana said.
Both Alexander and Vrana said children, the elderly and those with immune system deficiencies have an increased risk.
“Firmly wash food and vegetables you aren’t going to cook, wash your hands continuously, carefully cook meat and stay away raw milk or any product made from raw milk,” Alexander said.
