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DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
Jun. 02, 2006

SACRAMENTO - Spoiled milk was likely responsible for an outbreak of gastroenteritis that sickened more than 1,300 inmates and 14 employees at 11 state prisons last month, officials said Friday.

The inmates and employees had symptoms between May 16 and 26 that included fever, headaches, diarrhea, cramping and vomiting caused by campylobacter, a bacteria.

Investigators were never able to find the bacteria in food and milk samples, and they said milk processing equipment tested clean at the Deuel Vocational Institution farm in Tracy, which supplied milk to the 11 prisons.

But milk was "the only food item that had any significant connection" among the sick inmates, said Dr. Mark Starr of the California Department of Health Services. "It was quite a dramatic difference."

Those who consumed milk were 11 times more likely to have symptoms, he said.

The animal-borne bacteria is commonly spread to humans through meats or animal-contaminated milk or water.

Dr. Stephen Beam, chief of the milk and food safety branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, speculated that contaminated containers, packaging equipment or holding tanks may have been the problem, as the farm's pasteurization process and other procedures met health standards.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's acting secretary, James E. Tilton, said there was no evidence of human tampering. A few inmates were treated at prison infirmaries, but most were treated in their cells.

"The outbreak seems to be over," and the public was never affected, he said.

Dairy production was shut down for a few hours for inspection May 19, and 25,000 half-pint containers of milk produced May 8-18 were recalled and destroyed. Milk containers during that period had a higher bacteria count, Beam said, but the bacteria could not be identified.

The farm at Deuel produces about 6,000 gallons of raw milk each day. It is one of three prison dairies that employ about 300 inmates and supply milk to all but three of the state's prisons.

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DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO - Spoiled milk was likely responsible for an outbreak of gastroenteritis that sickened more than 1,300 inmates and 14 employees at 11 state prisons last month, officials said Friday.

The inmates and employees had symptoms between May 16 and 26 that included fever, headaches, diarrhea, cramping and vomiting caused by campylobacter, a bacteria.

Investigators were never able to find the bacteria in food and milk samples, and they said milk processing equipment tested clean at the Deuel Vocational Institution farm in Tracy, which supplied milk to the 11 prisons.

But milk was "the only food item that had any significant connection" among the sick inmates, said Dr. Mark Starr of the California Department of Health Services. "It was quite a dramatic difference."

Those who consumed milk were 11 times more likely to have symptoms, he said.

The animal-borne bacteria is commonly spread to humans through meats or animal-contaminated milk or water.

Dr. Stephen Beam, chief of the milk and food safety branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, speculated that contaminated containers, packaging equipment or holding tanks may have been the problem, as the farm's pasteurization process and other procedures met health standards.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's acting secretary, James E. Tilton, said there was no evidence of human tampering. A few inmates were treated at prison infirmaries, but most were treated in their cells.

"The outbreak seems to be over," and the public was never affected, he said.

Dairy production was shut down for a few hours for inspection May 19, and 25,000 half-pint containers of milk produced May 8-18 were recalled and destroyed. Milk containers during that period had a higher bacteria count, Beam said, but the bacteria could not be identified.

The farm at Deuel produces about 6,000 gallons of raw milk each day. It is one of three prison dairies that employ about 300 inmates and supply milk to all but three of the state's prisons.

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May 24, 2006
LA Times
Jenifer Warren

SACRAMENTO -- Nearly 1,300 inmates at nine California prisons have been stricken with gastroenteritis, according to corrections officials, who remain stumped by the source of the bacterial outbreak.

Some inmates have been hospitalized, but most have been treated in their cells for vomiting, fever, headaches, diarrhea and cramping caused by Campylobacter bacteria. A small number of staff members also have become ill.

The symptoms surfaced at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy, east of San Francisco, where 379 inmates have fallen ill since May 16. The contagious disease has since struck inmates at state prisons elsewhere in the San Joaquin Valley and also in Folsom, the Sierra foothills and Norco in Riverside County.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Terry Thornton, said health authorities have not pinpointed the source of the bacteria. She said Campylobacter can be spread through contaminated water or food, including meat or unpasteurized milk.

"It's a mystery right now," Thornton said. "We're looking at everything."

Most of the prisons with ill inmates were initially placed on 24-hour "lockdown" status after the outbreak, to reduce contact with contagious inmates and to free up staff to help with treatment, Thornton said. While on lockdown, prisons close to visitors and halt inmate programs and education.

Thornton said prison healthcare workers were most concerned about dehydration from excessive vomiting. Some inmates have been given intravenous fluids, she said.

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