Newborn dies after mother drinks raw milk during pregnancy

"A newborn baby has died in New Mexico from a Listeria infection that state health officials say was likely contracted from raw (unpasteurized) milk that the baby's mother drank during pregnancy. In a news release Tuesday, officials warned people not to consume any raw dairy, highlighting that it can be teeming with a variety of pathogens. Those germs are especially dangerous to pregnant women, as well as young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems."

""Raw milk can contain numerous disease-causing germs, including Listeria, which is bacteria that can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, or fatal infection in newborns, even if the mother is only mildly ill," the New Mexico Department of Health said in the press release. The health department noted that it could not definitively link the baby's death to the raw milk the mother drank."

A newborn in New Mexico died from a Listeria infection likely contracted from the mother's consumption of raw (unpasteurized) milk during pregnancy. Health officials warned against consuming any raw dairy because it can harbor multiple pathogens dangerous to pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Raw milk can contain Listeria, which can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, or fatal neonatal infection even when maternal illness is mild. The health department could not conclusively link this death to the raw milk, but raw milk is known to transmit Listeria monocytogenes. Pregnant people face about tenfold higher risk of Listeria infection and Listeria can cross the placenta to infect a fetus.

Read at Ars Technica