Behind "milking the goat's milk now": Believing in "freshness is nutrition" and the hidden danger of "brucellosis"

Recently, a 2-year-old girl named Yanyan (pseudonym) in Xi 'an was diagnosed as brucellosis, which the hospital believes is related to Yanyan's drinking of freshly squeezed goat milk.

According to local residents, the "freshly squeezed goat milk" has appeared on the streets of Xi 'an for many years. Every day, vendors drive vans or ride tricycles between communities, carrying two or three sheep. Goat milk is directly squeezed into plastic bottles for sale, and the price is usually one catty in 5 yuan.

In addition, the "freshly squeezed goat milk" is also sold online. The delivery addresses of the merchants are shown in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, Jieyang, Guangdong, Weinan, Shaanxi and other cities, and the monthly sales of some merchants reach 5 pieces.

On the 8th, the Beijing News reporter learned from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Xi 'an that drinking freshly squeezed milk from cattle and sheep is indeed a risk of infection, but up to now, there are no other cases of infection in Xi 'an except this young child.

the staff of the supervision and management of salt and edible agricultural products of Xi' an Market Supervision Administration said that after the above-mentioned incident, State Administration for Market Regulation has issued a document jointly with the Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to carry out investigation in the whole city, and strictly supervised the source link of breeding and the marketing link.

a confirmed case of a 2-year-old girl. Video screenshot

A 2-year-old girl is infected with brucellosis

Recently, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Jiaotong University admitted a 2-year-old patient who suffered from "fever for 4 days and rash for 3 days". After examination, it was found that the patient was positive for brucellosis and was diagnosed as brucellosis.

Yanyan lives in Lintong District, Xi 'an, and there are often vendors near the community holding sheep and milking them for sale. The grandmother told the medical staff that she saw a lot of people buying it, and she heard that the freshly squeezed goat milk was fresh and nutritious and easy to digest, so she bought it for her child ...

A pediatric medical staff in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Jiaotong University told the Beijing News reporter that Yan Yan had been feverish for several days when she first came to see a doctor, during which she had a febrile convulsion and foaming at the mouth. On September 5, Yanyan was transferred to the Infectious Diseases Department of Xi 'an Children's Hospital.

"The child's condition has improved when he was transferred to hospital, and he has no fever." The above-mentioned medical staff said that up to now, their department has not treated other children infected with brucellosis because of drinking freshly squeezed goat milk.

brucellosis is an infectious disease of people and animals caused by Brucella infection, and it is a Class B infectious disease stipulated in the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in China. Sick sheep, cattle and other infected animals are the main sources of brucellosis, which used to be common in pastoral areas.

In early September, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Jiaotong University posted on WeChat WeChat official account that Brucella can spread through damaged skin mucosa, digestive tract and respiratory tract. Children's early symptoms are atypical, and they may only have fever symptoms, which are easily ignored by parents. But as long as the treatment is systematic and standardized, most of them can be cured completely.

The hospital warned that drinking fresh goat's milk may lead to brucellosis, so don't buy fresh goat's milk from vendors who walk the streets. Only professional pasteurization or ultra-high temperature sterilization can effectively kill Brucella in milk.

the "freshly milked goat milk" on the streets of Xi' an. Photo courtesy of the interviewee

"freshly squeezed goat milk" on the streets of Xi 'an

Local residents introduced that "freshly squeezed goat milk" on the streets of Xi 'an has appeared for many years.

In Yinqiao Avenue, Lintong District, Xi 'an, every day, vendors drive vans or ride tricycles between communities. Most of the vendors are farmers who raise sheep in the surrounding countryside. They carry two or three sheep on their cars, and wooden boards are nailed to both sides of the cars. There are four big characters on the boards-"Milk is squeezed now".

Qi Weixing, a local resident, said that the price of goat milk is generally one catty in 5 yuan. It was confirmed that after buying, the vendor held an empty plastic bottle with one hand and squeezed the goat milk into the bottle with the other hand, and then handed it directly to the customer.

Ms. Gu is a resident of Xigou Village, Lintong District. She mentioned that the elderly at home often follow the aunts in the community to buy freshly squeezed goat milk. "Vendors come almost every day, and my mother buys it every other week. She sometimes recommends it to people who have never drunk it, saying that it is good for the baby to drink raw milk.".

Listening to the labels of "fresh", "pure", "nutritious" and "no additive" on ewes, the aunts in the community recommended each other. Ms. Gu mentioned that some residents would eat it directly after buying it, while others would heat it slightly or boil it before drinking it.

After the words and deeds caused concern, the "milk milking now" on the local streets was not greatly affected. Qi Weixing lives near Qinshui Qintang Community in Lintong District. In recent two days, he found that there are still vendors selling "freshly squeezed goat milk" at the entrance of the community.

"There are still many residents who buy it. They think fresh raw milk has the best nutrition, and few people will question whether the milkman has a health certificate or not." Qi weixing said.

"Milk is squeezed now" promoted by online stores. Screenshot of the webpage

Online sellers: now squeezed for delivery

The Beijing News reporter searched a number of e-commerce companies and found that "now squeezed goat's milk" was also sold online. The delivery addresses of merchants were shown in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, Jieyang, Guangdong, Weinan, Shaanxi and other cities, and some merchants sold 5 pieces a month.

in the product homepage displayed by the merchant, first, a group of goats are grazing, and the next picture is a transparent plastic bottle filled with milky white liquid. The bottle body has no packaging logo, and the words "Fresh goat milk, zero added, original flavor, and delivered now" are attached to the picture.

There is a slight difference in price between the types of goats and the treatment of goat milk. For each bottle of 25 ml, the price of squeezed goat milk is 9.9 yuan, the price of black goat milk is 11.9 yuan, and the price of pasteurized goat milk is 11.9 yuan.

A merchant mentioned that the goat's milk here is squeezed by workers, except the goat's milk marked "pasteurized", all the others have not been sterilized. The goat milk sold is milked in the morning, frozen at MINUS 4 degrees, delivered at night, refrigerated and transported, and promised to arrive fresh within 48 hours.

buyer Tian Xin (pseudonym) often buys freshly squeezed goat milk online. According to its introduction, she usually buys on a monthly basis because she agrees with the advertising slogans of "zero added" and "original flavor".

Tian Xin said that what she likes most is the rich milk smell and the floating skin of goat milk after boiling. "Of course, the milk smell will be mixed with other flavors, which are similar to the smell of mutton, but this can better prove its original flavor, and only when it is acceptable can you enjoy this nutrition."

The Beijing News reporter noticed that "boiled for drinking" is marked by businesses selling online, and the detailed pages of many products all read "How to eat: just boil it with a small fire". A merchant suggested that although the freshly squeezed goat's milk is fresh, because it has not been processed, "there are still bacterial residues, which must be cooked and drunk."

street vendors squeeze goat milk into plastic bottles. Photo courtesy of interviewees

Xi 'an CDC: Drinking freshly squeezed goat milk directly does have the risk of infection

On September 8, a staff member of Xi 'an CDC told the Beijing News that drinking freshly squeezed cow and sheep milk directly does have the risk of infection, but up to now, there are no other cases of infection in Xi 'an except this young child.

the staff of the supervision and management of salt and edible agricultural products of Xi' an Market Supervision Administration said that after the above-mentioned incident, State Administration for Market Regulation has issued a document jointly with the Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to carry out investigation in the whole city, and strictly supervised the source link of breeding and the marketing link.

In addition, on July 31st this year, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Xi 'an issued a document through the official number, saying that eating unsterilized dairy products or even raw milk in pursuit of the so-called original ecology has become a common way for children to be infected with brucellosis.

As mentioned in the above article, it has been confirmed by research that there are nearly 1 kinds of pathogenic bacteria in unprocessed fresh cow and sheep milk, and there are as many as 16 kinds of diseases transmitted to humans through cow and sheep milk, such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, typhoid and paratyphoid, colibacillosis and salmonella.

The Beijing News reporter found that the production process of goat milk should refer to the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Dairy Quality and Safety promulgated by the state. The regulations stipulate that those directly engaged in milking should hold valid health certificates. In addition, the dairy products produced should be sterilized by pasteurization, high temperature sterilization, ultra-high temperature sterilization or other effective methods.

There have been related cases in many parts of the country

The Beijing News reporter found that it is not the first time that brucellosis was infected by drinking raw milk, and there have been related cases in various parts of the country.

In p>216, Ms. Zhang, a citizen of Dalian, Liaoning Province, and her 8-year-old son started to have persistent fever one after another. After going to the hospital for examination, they were told that they had brucellosis. It turned out that the mother and son had always had the habit of drinking freshly squeezed goat milk, which led to bacterial infection.

The local media mentioned in the report that reporters often pull a few live sheep around residential areas and farmers' markets to milk them for sale. There are quite a few people who are "fresh", but they don't realize the health risks here.

In p>216, a 6-year-old girl from Hebei was admitted to hospital for treatment with low-grade fever, sweating, cough and other symptoms, and was finally diagnosed as brucellosis. It is suspected that it was caused by drinking contaminated goat milk. Because the child was weak and sick since childhood, I heard that goat milk is good for weak children, so I bought goat milk for my children to drink from an early age.

In p>219, a pair of brothers in Fuzhou had a series of "colds" and high fever, and they were found to be infected with brucellosis after being transferred to several hospitals, mainly because they drank freshly squeezed goat milk for more than a month.

On August 3rd this year, Shaanxi CDC published an article about "raw milk can't be drunk", which indicated that there were many brucellosis infections caused by raw cow and sheep milk in Shaanxi recently, and warned consumers not to drink fresh cow and sheep milk without quarantine.